A Dying Flame
by RavenOperative
Summary: Monsters kidnap and corrupt humans, The Order launches crusades to kill them. Families and friendships are torn apart in an unending battle for dominance, and the soldiers and civilians alike suffer for it. This is the story of a man, caught up in an endless war.
1. Day 1 - Arrival

**Preface:** Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to my story. I loved reading the MGE, but the more you think about the profiles and art attached to it, the more terrifyingly grimdark the setting becomes... It's a bit like Pokemon, really. Don't examine it too closely, because you might not like what you find, haha.

... Well this story is going to do just that. It won't be 100% dark, but people will die, and unpleasant topics will be explored. I've altered a few of the in-universe rules that I thought made no sense, like Gods preventing anyone from being killed in battle, (What's the point of The Order trying to kill monsters if they can't kill monsters?) so I guess this isn't going to be a 100% faithful fanfic and should be considered an alternate universe story.

With regards to the rating: This is not a smut-fic. First of all, I am a terrible smut writer, and secondly, it's not the focus of the story. Of course, in a world basically defined by monster girls raping and corrupting people, I'm not going to shy away from writing it, but you'll notice I don't put a huge amount of emphasis on the actual acts themselves. Rated M for sex and some darker topics that might come up in later chapters.

Oh yeah, and you know the drill, I don't own the MGE, Kenkou Cross has that honour. Plz don't sue me, I'm a student. I'm in enough debt as it is.

Without further ado, I present to you the story of Garret and his experiences in the unending war between humans and monsters.

* * *

 **Day 1 / Arrival**

"Garret Fax... flame sorcerer from the Falkirk academy, joined the Northreach Crusaders two years ago… 22 years old. Well at least you're not totally green. Tell me, Mr. Fax, how much combat experience do you have?" The commandant leaned back in his chair and tossed the transfer papers onto his desk as he addressed the young man standing in front of him. Sizing him up, he noted that Garret was surprisingly tall and muscular for a mage. That was really the only defining characteristic of him, though. His shaggy brown hair wasn't particularly identifying, and his rusty red sorcerer's robes were completely devoid of the trinkets and crystals most mages tended to adorn themselves with.

"I've had some, sir. I've patrolled with the Crusaders and guarded villages, but I've never been on an actual crusade before. Mages are in short supply up north. They don't risk us unless a major operation is underway." Garret looked just about everywhere but the commander's eyes as he spoke, his gaze darting around the dimly lit room, occasionally focusing on the flickering candles that lit it. Perhaps he was nervous, or just shy.

"I don't bite, Mr. Fax.", the commandant remarked with a frown, before picking up the transfer papers and examining them again. Sure enough, Garret's old sergeant had noted his antisocial tendencies in the document. "Tell me, what have you dealt with in the northern reaches?"

"Dealt with, sir?"

"Mamono. What kinds have you fought? And how many?"

"Uh… Mostly Glacies, sir. Yuki-onna sometimes, but they rarely attack towns or patrols. Fire scares them off."

"So not many, then…" The commandant stared at Garret for what seemed like ages, before finally leaning forward and handed the paper back to him. "Well, you'll get your fill of battle soon enough. Patrols are attacked on a daily basis here, and we're about to send off a proper crusade soon – the reason your king sent you." Abandoning his usual sneering tone for a more amicable one, he stood up and offered his hand for a handshake. "We'll see how true your college's reputation really is. Welcome to the Natonian Guard, Mr. Fax. Your partner said she'd meet you at the barracks. Dismissed."

Garret shook his hand and then quickly saluted, before grabbing his pack from the floor, slinging it over his shoulder and leaving the room. Turning to the right and shutting the worn, oak door behind him, he continued down the main hall of the officer's barracks. As he walked through the dimly lit building, he heard hushed discussions coming from the other quarters. A town lost to mamono, a patrol missing in action, a successful crusade that broke a monster stronghold, a blessing from the Chief Goddess herself that saved an entire army… Though he never lingered in one place long enough to eavesdrop on an entire conversation, he couldn't help but notice that Naton's war against the mamono was much livelier than the one in Northreach. Perhaps caused by the intense cold, but more likely because of the independent and less aggressive nature of northern monsters, his nation rarely had to worry about large scale attacks or military operations.

* * *

The enlisted barracks was a surprisingly new building. Its limestone walls, bathed in the afternoon sun, showed little signs of deterioration and, compared to the stained and weathered wood of the officer's barracks, its original colour had yet to be tarnished by years of use and exposure. Part of Garret wondered why the officers hadn't elected to move into the newer (and much larger) building, but the answer to that quickly revealed itself. Behind the barracks was a large, fenced-in field that currently held a massive formation of new recruits running, clambering over obstacles, and performing weapon drills under the watchful eyes of their instructors. The low roar coming from it was not terribly loud, but enough of a constant annoyance to make the building unsuitable for people discussing strategies. The interior was likewise unsuited to an officer's lifestyle. The halls were brightly lit and fairly clean, but the rooms were barely large enough to fit the two beds that occupied them and the lockers at their feet. At least they had private rooms this time, Garret mused to himself. Not like the communal barracks in Northreach where every pair used a bunkbed.

Once Garret had sought the quartermaster and been given his key to the room, he quickly strode to through the halls, stepping around loitering soldiers and desperately trying to avoid eye contact, lest he be drawn into an unwanted conversation. Shutting the door behind him, he dropped his bag on the floor and collapsed onto the bed. The mattress was hard and the pillow, not particularly comfortable, but a day of travelling and exhausting social interactions had completely drained Garret. Not a minute after he kicked off his boots, he was fast asleep.

* * *

"…rret… garret… Garret. Come on, get up, it's dinner time." A light shaking at his shoulder slowly roused Garret from his all-too-brief nap. When he cracked an eye open, a pair of green ones stared back at him.

"Are you feeling alright, Garret? You're not usually one for naps." Garret groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes and greeted the tall, red-haired girl who was towering over him.

"Mornin', Annika… I'm fine. Just tired from travelling."

"You're sure?" Her plate mail rattled as she cocked her head to the side before smiling and continuing. "Sounds like you just need to get some food in you. I'm sure that'll help."

"Maybe… Maybe." Garret slowly eased himself off the bed and began to lace up his boots. Half way through, he addressed the question of why his partner was going to be eating while fully armed and armoured.

"Expecting an attack?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. A mischievous grin that he had come to both love and hate accompanied the answer he received.

"No, but I volunteered us for a shift guarding the city gate. I want meet some people and maybe fight something." Annika's eyes lit up as she mentioned the possibility of combat, eliciting a groan from Garret.

"You could at least have given me a night to rest before signing us up…"

"Not a chance!" Her grin stretched even wider as the two made their way out of the barracks and began the trek towards the mess hall.

"You said you were trying to keep up with me, so show me whatchya got! How in the world are you going to ever keep up with a knight in combat if a little traveling is all it takes to tucker you out?"

Garret was about to reply when a single bell tolled over the city's main gate. An alert. Garret tried to keep walking, but Annika grabbed him by the shoulder. "It's only one bell, Annika. Just means to stand by." Around them, most of the soldiers and civilians only gave the sound a moment's pause before continuing on their way. It seemed like one-bell alarms were common and weren't much cause for concern. Her grip remained firm on his shoulder, however, her expression serious. She was thinking, and Garret knew enough not to interrupt her during a moment like this. A minute later, she smiled and started dragging Garret down the cobblestone street, towards the main gate. "Come on, Garret! Let's go check it out." Apparently he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"I'm sure the guards can deal with it, Annika."

"Maybe, but don't you want to see how the guards fight? I want to see how they fight! I want to see their power!" Annika's grin was back, but something was off… Garret had worked with her long enough to know that. She was trying to seem like her usual competitive self, but her tenseness meant she was legitimately worried about something. Protesting wasn't going to get him anywhere, though, so Garret sighed and resigned himself to his fate.

* * *

As they approached the limestone city walls, the sound of combat grew, and Annika's pace quickened. Oddly enough, the expected distinct peels of steel against steel were not present. The portcullis was open too, and the archers on the walls were just watching the battle. Whatever they were fighting must not use weapons, Garret supposed, and either be too few in numbers to be worth wasting arrows on or just wasn't vulnerable to them and forced the guards to confront them in a melee. Garret's thoughts began to drift over the possibilities. Elementals? No, those were too rare this far south to be much of a threat. Ghosts? They didn't attack settlements. Slimes? … Maybe? They usually didn't attack towns in force either, but it might be possible.

A small crowd of curious civilians had gathered around the gate, obscuring their view, but after being pulled to the front by Annika, Garret saw that his hypothesis was correct. A half-dozen blue slime girls were oozing around, first trying to tempt the guards by posing seductively and fondling their breasts, then using a more proactive approach when that didn't work. The slimes lurched forward, each trying to ensnare one of the guards, but so far they seemed to be handling the situation. Their numbers equaled the slimes, and they had left their swords in their scabbards, instead electing to fight with maces or clubs. Beside him, Annika let out a sigh of relief.

"Worried?" She shook her head in response.

"No, I just… It's good that they know how to fight them."

As if to demonstrate the point, one of the guards darted forward and swung his mace, splattering a slime across the ground. He quickly hopped back before it could reassemble itself and counter attack.

Garret nodded in approval. "Spread out and using blunt weapons. They're more experienced than the guards in Northreach."

"Indeed."

That was probably the reason she was nervous, Garret mused. Northreach almost never had slimes in its territory. During the winter they would freeze, and summer was too short for many of them to migrate. This lack of population meant that their city's guards had been completely unprepared when an unseasonably warm spring had allowed a roaming band of slimes to make their way up to them. Their soldiers had tried to fight them in formation with swords or spears, just like everything else, which ended in disaster. A whole squad was lost, and they nearly got into the city before a mage finally showed up and burned them enough to make them flee. Garret hadn't been in the Crusaders then, but Annika had, and the memory of that night had probably stuck with her for years.

The pair continued to watch, but little by little, the guards began to gain the upper hand, culminating in one particularly battered slime finally collapsing and a guard springing forward to splatter it across the ground with his mace. It seemed it had finally used up all of its energy because it didn't reform.

"I guess I was just paranoid. Hmm… you're rubbing off on me, Garret! That's usually your thing!"

Garret couldn't help but smile as she punched his shoulder. "I guess I have." A minute later, though, things started to go horribly wrong.

As a guard finished off his slime and moved to help the others, a sudden blast of magic surged from the woods around hundred meters from the walls. It hit the unsuspecting man, wrapped around him, and began to pull him away from the rest of the group. At the same time, two dozen or so new slimes began to emerge from the wood. Unlike those before, these ones had clothes, or as close to clothes as a slime could represent using their body. Some of the slimes were dressed as knights, others dressed as archers, and one or two wore a wide-brimmed mages hat, all formed out of the same transparent goop that made up their bodies.

Annika wasted no time springing into action, dragging Garret behind her. She quickly grabbed a mace off a nearby weapon rack and charged in to help the soldiers. One particular guardsman was taking cover behind his shield as a shower of slime arrows embedded themselves in it, stopping his attacks and allowing the slime he was 'responsible for' to advance. It expanded and was about to engulf the man, when Annika darted forward and slammed her mace down into it. The guard only had a moment to nod his thanks before the slime knights were upon them, forcing the pair together to try and fend off the assault.

Garret initiated his attack by hurling a roaring fireball towards the cluster of slime archers, causing them to scatter, some from dodging, others by being incinerated by the spell. He had to be careful… too many spells could leave him unconscious. He was tired from travelling, and the spell sapped even more of his energy, but he had to help. This was nothing… This was nothing. His breathing became ragged as he felt the adrenaline start flowing through his veins, filling him with renewed strength. He sprinted after Annika, joining her and the other guard in their impromptu formation.

Ordinarily, fighting slimes in formation was suicide. A bunch of them could surge forward to engulf the whole group if anyone bungled their attacks, but when outnumbered 5 to 1, they really didn't have a choice. Annika covered the left flank, swatting at any slimes that approached with her mace. The guard she rescued covered the right and beckoned for his comrades to join them. Garret, as the group's mage, was the only one capable of killing the slimes efficiently, but his energy was limited. He remained behind the two as they moved to regroup with the remaining guards, occasionally firing a stream of flames to scare off or finish off a slime when they started to become in danger of being overwhelmed. Above the gate, the bell was ringing again. This time, it sounded two tolls, a signal calling for reinforcements.

"Garret, watch out!" Annika grabbed him and pulled him behind her, as slime arrows flew through the place he was just standing. "Haaah!" In return, he fired a blazing spear into one of the slime archers. The spear smoldered within it for a moment, before exploding and blasting the slime apart. This time, it didn't reform. Garret's signature spell, the immolating lance: it was a deadly and destructive spell, but also required vast amounts of energy. The adrenaline was keeping him going, but even so, he still had to hunch over, sheltered behind Annika as he waited for his breath and energy to return. Sweat dripped from his face, but his competitive side was beginning to flare.

Another volley of slime arrows flew towards the group, but Garret sprayed a blast of fire over them and burned them in mid-air. Another slime knight surged forward, but was immediately halted by a blow from Annika's mace. One of the guards who hadn't managed to join their formation yet got cornered by a pair of slimes and was about to meet a wiggly fate, but two other guards sprinted from the group and swung their maces, disorienting and damaging them enough for the lone guard to escape and join them. With that, the entire group of soldiers had managed to form up, and it seemed like the slimes' advantage was finally starting to subside. Even the soldier who was originally dragged by magic had managed to get away and rejoin their defense… but that was when the unusually silent slime mage chose to act.

The group of slime knights, who had previously attacked on their own, surged forward together, forcing the guards to respond with a flurry of frantic blows, less they be overwhelmed. Then, a sudden shadow appeared over them. Annika and the guards were too busy with their melee to notice this, but Garret looked up and saw a massive ball of magical goo arcing leisurely through the air towards their group. A brief look at the now utterly exhausted slime mage was enough to warn Garret of the severity of the spell. "EVERYONE SCATTER!"

The falling orb collided with the formation and exploded, knocking guards to the ground and coating most of them in a thick layer of green gunk. Annika managed to spot the ball at the last minute and blocked most of it with her shield, and another guard managed to dive out of the way with Garret, the two of them avoiding the blast. The rest of the group, however, quickly realized that the true nature of the spell was not one of force, but of adhesion. The slime covered guards found their movements difficult and sluggish as the goo thickened around them, binding them to the ground and preventing them from standing up. The slime knights and archers quickly took advantage of this, with most of them reverting from their 'combat' forms to their usual ones of naked, beautiful women, and descended upon the group. Each slime (sometimes, a pair) mounted a guard and began to ooze into the cracks of their armour until the men were completely engulfed. Bound as they were, the soldiers were helpless to stop the slime girls from kissing them, massaging them with their slime, and stroking their quickly growing members under their armour. One by one, the men succumbed to the unnatural pleasure and came into their assailant's gelatinous bodies, draining their energy and sapping their will to resist. Garret, Annika and the last guard could only watch in disgust at this perverse spectacle, as they were forced away from the group by the occasional peppering of slime arrows and the advances of the remaining few slime knights.

The orgy continued in full view of the gate, as if the slimes were mocking the defenders. The archers on the wall couldn't risk firing arrows (not that they would have had much effect) lest they hit the captive guards, and three people were not enough to fight the remaining slimes, even if most of them were preoccupied. Armor was removed, and clothes, slowly stripped, as the slimes systematically disrobed and disarmed their captives, before happily bouncing away on the soldier's laps. Garret wanted to burn them, but he needed to save his energy. He needed to wait. Save what strength he had. Only use it if they were attacked while they waited for the… A shout from behind him finished Garret's train of thought for him. Reinforcements! Two more squads of guards, heavily armed and armored were pounding down the street towards the gate, with what looked like a pair of priests trailing further behind them. They were still minutes away, but the fight was over. With their numbers tripled and holy magic on their side, the slimes wouldn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately, it seemed like their foes realized this too. The slimes immediately ceased their 'fun' and began to reshape into their knight and archer forms. Some of them engulfed their men and began to ooze back towards the forest as fast as the slimes could muster, while the rest immediately charged the trio. What were they doing? Were the slimes trying to cover the retreat of their comrades? Were the slimes… using tactics? Garret didn't have much time to ponder this. A moment later, the slime knights were upon them.

Annika and the guard swung their maces, and Garret let out flashes of fire, frantically trying to hold them back, but there was nothing they could do. Three guards against eight slimes was an easy victory for the slimes. The group was quickly overwhelmed as they washed over them like a tidal wave. Annika soon found herself being enveloped by three slimes, as did the other guard. The remaining two surged over the group and pinned Garret before he could focus another spell. One latched onto his legs, while the other pressed herself against his torso and shoved her breasts into his face, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling into the dirt. He had to get them off of him! He had to fight! He flailed his arms, trying to get free, but the slimes held him fast. Failing that, he willed his magic into existence. Distracted by the slimes, it took a tremendous amount of focus, but Garret managed to ignite his hands and start boil the slime attacking him away. His triumph was short lived, however, as the slimes made their way under his clothes, tickling his bare skin with their bodies, and beginning to stroke his hardening cock. The overpowering and unpredictable sensations caused him to lose focus, and with it, his grip on the magic. Finally subdued, Garret could only struggle uselessly as the slimes had their way with him.

The slime attached to his torso cooed as she reshaped her body, causing her already generous breasts to grow to even larger sizes. While Garret wriggled, she wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him deep into her gelatinous cleavage, smothering him. At his waist, the second slime unbuckled his belt and slid his pants down, allowing his member to spring free. With a sigh of pleasure, she mounted him, enveloping his cock, and began to bounce. The unpredictable movements of the slime combined with the otherworldly pleasures that a monster's demonic energy could provide soon brought Garret to his limit. He shot his load deep within the slime, causing him to moan into the cleavage of his captors, and the other slime girl to shudder with pleasure. His cock briefly softened, but the slime made it abundantly clear that she had no intentions of letting it remain that way, pumping his shaft with renewed intensity. Though pleasurable, Garret quickly became aware of another problem. Smothered deep in the tits of the slime on his chest, he couldn't breathe, and his vision was starting to swim.

The slime holding his head seemed to sense this, but instead of releasing him, she held him tighter, even as he tried to push away. What was she doing!? Was she trying to drown him? Monsters weren't supposed to kill humans! The panic caused Garret to flail and burn even more oxygen in his inept attempts at escape. Just when his vision began to darken and he felt like he was about to pass out, the slime released him, allowing him a moment to breath, before pulling him into a passionate kiss. As he gasped for breath, Garret was unable to resist the sudden assault, and the slime pressed her tongue into his mouth, filling it with fruity-sweet goo. The taste was heavenly, and almost involuntarily, Garret found himself sucking on her tongue, trying to get more. The slime proved to be quite alright with this idea and forced her tongue into his mouth and down his throat, causing him to gag as she poured herself into him. She was trying to change him! Garret quickly realized, retching and coughing, trying to expel the slime she was force feeding him. Demonic energy could turn a human into an incubus through sex alone, but that usually required hours. By force feeding him, she could trigger that transformation from within via internal exposure! No! Garret struggled again, twisting and turning, trying to save himself one last time. As he did, salvation came in the form of a club crashing into the slime and scattering the goo holding him. Their reinforcements had finally arrived, and one of the guards immediately went to work, splattering exposed portions of the slime girls, disrupting them enough for Garret to be pulled free.

"I got you, buddy! Are you alright?" Garret couldn't answer the man, he immediately rolled onto his knees and began to wretch, vomiting out as much of the slime as he could, even punching himself in the stomach to try and force more of it out.

"Thank… Thank you…" was all Garret could respond with after he gathered himself. Weak from lack of oxygen and his exertions, he sloppily got dressed and pulled himself to a sitting position as he watched the reinforcements deal with the remaining slimes. Annika, blushing and covered in goo, was the next person to be rescued. A priest quickly saw to examining her and ensuring she hadn't been corrupted yet. He waved a glowing hand over her body, bathing Annika in a holy light to purify what ever demonic energy remained and then moved on to assist the others. Once he was done, she hastily gathered her scattered clothes and pulled her (now soaked) white gambeson and pants on to hide her naked body. Though he tried to be respectful, Garret couldn't help but (stealthily) admire Annika's athletic form. Managing to land a beauty like her as his combat partner was something that many of his fellow Crusaders had envied him for back home.

Unlike Garret, she didn't collapse. Instead she stood upright, arms crossed, leering at the remaining slimes as the guards continued to dispatch them. She was clearly furious, maybe at herself, or maybe at the slimes, but probably both. Garret felt like he should say something, anything to try to make her feel a bit better, but he couldn't quite decide what. "Thank you for shielding me, Annika" was what he eventually settled on. "Shut it, Garret" was the reply he got.

* * *

Despite being outnumbered and caught with their figurative pants down, the remaining slimes put up a decent fight. It took a few minutes for the guards to surround and finally kill them all, releasing the remaining soldiers. Once they finished their task, they started gathering the maces, shields and armor scattered around the field, handing them back to the disarmed soldiers while the priests began to examine the rest of them. Something was starting to bother Garret, though… He had a strange feeling in his stomach… almost like something was tugging at him, beckoning towards the forest. Maybe he still had a bit of slime in him, but that shouldn't be a problem since they killed the main body of it. It should be inert now… In an attempt to reassure himself that everything was ok, he did a quick count of the partially dressed guards, making sure that everyone had gotten rescued. Unfortunately, this did anything but reassure him. Three were missing. As if in response to his increasing dread, the tugging in his stomach increased. This wasn't over.

Something was going on in the forest, of that, Garret was sure. He staggered to his feet and began to run. He had to get to the forest, he had to find out what was going on. Once he was about twenty meters away from the group, one of the priests noticed him and began to shout.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Don't run off! Someone grab him!"

"I'll get him… Garret! Garret, wait!"

Annika's voice did little to stop him as she chased after him. This was urgent. His blood was pumping, adrenaline was flowing, and he had to get away from them. He had to get to the forest! Something was wrong, something was there, something was calling him. When he reached the treeline, he didn't sprint down the main trail that merchants and travelers used. His gut told him to turn left, and so he did, scrambling into the underbrush. …But why was he running? Why didn't he tell the priests what he felt? Or that people were missing? What was he doing? As he pressed through brambles and bushes, the feeling of panic in his gut started to subside and he began to feel safer… calmer… like he belonged here… And that was definitely not normal. Garret finally came to this realization as he pushed through the last bit of undergrowth and came face to face with the largest slime he had ever seen.

In the middle of the clearing was an enormous blue blob, easily ten feet tall and glistening in the setting sun. Sitting on top of it, was a naked slime girl, indistinguishable from the others except for the gelatinous crown on her head. Within the walls of the blob were the three kidnapped guards, each partially submerged in the slime, with a beautiful slime girl bouncing on their lap or passionately kissing them. Unlike the slimes that attacked the gate, the ones attached to the blob were different… more elegant looking, even more beautiful, and with more pronounced curves and features.

"What's this? Another guard has sought us out? You must have heard my call. Come and join us, little one, and we will show you the pleasure of serving a queen." The slime atop the mound of goo spoke in a soft, refined tone, before opening her arms in a gesture of welcoming to Garret. As she did, a trio of slime girls formed from the blob and split off. They wobbled towards Garret, shaking their hips and breasts, trying to entice him as they approached. That was why the slimes were smart! They hadn't been attacked by a group of slimes, they had been attacked by one slime! The knight, archer and mage slimes had all been controlled by her!

"Garret! What are you doing?! Run!"

Annika had apparently caught up to him, and she grabbed his arm, trying to tug him away. … but he couldn't leave… Slimes got their energy from the semen of men, and this one had captured three of them. The guards were already in the first stages of their inevitable transformations into incubi. Their skin had taken on a light purple tinge and, judging by the increasingly large amounts of semen they were jetting into the slim, their sexual traits had already been increased as well. There was no saving them. Every soldier in The Order knew what needed to be done, and Garret was no exception.

"Save me, Annika. I'm not going to survive this…"

Already exhausted, Garret could barely sustain one flaming spear, but he pushed his limits and conjured three. With a sweep of his arm, he sent them flying into the slime, piercing its layers and embedding them into the torsos of the captured men. In their euphoric and partially transformed state, he doubted they felt any pain. His vision flickered and he fell to his knees. Garret couldn't feel his legs or arms any more. Focusing the last of his power, he funneled his remaining energy into the spears, causing them to detonate within the imprisoned men's chests. The slime queen screamed, not from pain, but from what he did to her 'husbands', and the slimes approaching him momentarily lost their cohesion. Garret didn't have time to watch any of this, however. He had blacked out before he hit the ground.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I'm always a little bit wary of my writing for magical heros. I use the system of spells only costing energy (unless it's some grand magical work spanning an entire city) because it's easier to write for, but that also lends itself to being easily abused and Mary Sue-ish. Garret isn't supposed to be an overpowered hero, that honour lies with the actual divine heros of the setting. I hope I'm striking a good balance here, describing him needing to pause in combat or conserve energy instead of just spamming fireball over and over again, and knocking him out when he eventually does do that.

Anyways, this is my first proper fanfic, so I'm wondering what y'all think. If you like what you see, think parts of it could be improved, or alternatively, would like me to never write something like this again, please leave a review. I really appreciate it.

This ends Chapter 1 of the story. Chapter 2 will be released... sometime before the heat death of the universe. Exams are coming and I don't know when I'll get a chance to sit down and write again. It might be next week, it might be next year, but I do not intend on abandoning this. Until then, Sayonara!


	2. Day 4 - Preparation

**Day ? / ?**

Where was he? Garret stood in what he thought was a long line of people, but he couldn't quite tell. His surroundings were pitch black, with the darkness occasionally pierced by spots of blinding light that hurt to look at. Not that he would have been able to see anything specific anyways. His vision was blurry, unfocused. He waved a hand in front of one of the light rays, trying to see it, but could barely tell where his palm ended and fingers began. A windstorm howled in his ears, blocking out other sounds, and the ground beneath his feet felt… Was there even ground beneath him? He wasn't falling. The unidentifiable figures around him didn't look like they were in freefall, and he could definitely tell that he was standing on something, but it felt wrong somehow. A sudden, loud bang pierced through the windstorm, like the fall of a gavel, and the line he was in took a step forward.

Come to think of it, he couldn't feel his clothes either, though he was sure he was wearing them. He couldn't tell if he was hot or cold, comfortable or not. _Bang_. The line took another step forward.

Hell, he couldn't even tell if he was happy or sad. Should he be upset? Confused? He had no idea where he was, shouldn't that be a problem for him? And how did he even get here? _Bang._ The line took another step forward.

Why was he here? What sent him to this land of oblivion? He couldn't remember… Garret knew his name, but what did he do? What happened before he arrived here? _Bang_. The line continued its inexorable march towards its unknown destination.

 _Bang… Bang… Bang…_ As Garret moved with the line, the terrain slowly changed. If he had been walking on flat earth before, now he was climbing stairs. Ahead of him, he heard murmurs. Someone was talking. Or maybe it was a group of people? He couldn't make out the words over the gale, nor who they belonged to.

 _Bang._ Before he knew it, Garret had no one left ahead of him. He was at the front of the line, and beyond him lay a circle of the piercing white light. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, before stepping forward, into the circle. The light was blinding, but through it, he could make out the vague outlines of a group of figures sitting in a semi-circle, looking down on him from above.

A whispering voice snaked into his ear. _"You're not supposed to be here…"_ But where was here?! Garret was about to ask, when he heard another loud bang. Suddenly the ocean of darkness around him disappeared.

 **Day 4 / Preparation**

Now where was he? Garret blinked a few times and let his eyes focus. A sudden shout startled him as something heavy landed on his chest. "Garret!" Daylight streamed through the window of the Hospitaller's quarters, illuminating surgical instruments on the walls, scrolls and potions on the tables, and other empty cots littering the old, wooden room. The object that landed on him turned out to be a person. A very worried looking girl, with braided red hair was hugging him so tightly he could barely breath.

"Annika…" He returned the embrace, though with a much more gentle grip than hers, and tried to remember how he ended up like this. He had arrived in Naton, gotten his quarters, fought some slimes,… And killed three captured guards… Oh. Annika must have dragged him here after he passed out.

"Are you alright, Annika?"

"Alright?! Yes, I'm fine, but what about you?! You were dead!" Garret tried to move a little, but Annika clung to him even tighter. Her voice was uneven and shaky, and when she looked up at him, tears streamed down her cheeks and dripped onto the covers.

"… D-dead? I was dead?" The colour drained from Garret's face as he heard that. He was at a loss for words. A little weak, maybe, but aside from that, he felt fine! Nothing like what he would expect a recently dead person to feel like. Annika looked like she was about to reply, but someone else beat her to it. Evidently, the commotion had attracted the attention of the resident Hospitaller, because the door opened and a surgeon, flanked by what looked like a wizard walked in.

"Not quite, Mr. Fax. Your heart and breathing stopped, but you weren't entirely dead. If you were, we couldn't have brought you back." The wizard tipped her wide-brimmed and trinket-covered hat back to reveal a confident looking, black haired woman. "Buuuut, Brother Samuel forced a potion into you that got you breathing, and I channeled enough energy to keep it that way." She cracked a grin. "You're welcome."

After wiping her tears, Annika gestured to the woman to introduce her. "Garret, this is Catherine."

The older woman smiled did a small curtsy. "Please, you can call me Cathy."

"She tended to you while you were unconscious. Brother Samuel too."

"Oh… Thank you, Catherine. Brother Samuel." This time Annika let him sit up and released him, allowing Garret to extend his arm to shake both of their hands. He was still a little overwhelmed. "I don't know how to repay you."

"Do not worry about it. We couldn't leave you to die, Ann would have been devastated. She didn't leave your side for the past two days, you know!"

"We were just doing our jobs."

Annika looked away, seemingly embarrassed, but Garret was more concerned with the length of time he had been unconscious for. "I was out for that long?"

"Yes." Catherine crossed her arms and put a finger on her cheek, before lecturing him like a child who had fallen asleep in class. "I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that casting too many spells is dangerous, but try to be more careful next time. If Ann hadn't managed to drag you back as quickly as she did, you really would be dead."

"Yes, I know… Sorry…" Garret sighed as she chided him, letting his gaze fall to the floor.

Brother Samuel coughed, interrupting the conversation. "I'm sure you all have a lot to talk about, but I need to examine Mr. Fax and speak with him in private. If he's fit to be discharged, you can continue your discussion outside."

Annika did not look like she was happy with this one bit, as she cast a final, worried glance at Garret before standing up to leave. "Alright… We'll wait in the hall."

After shoeing away the two women, Samuel began his examination, listening to Garret's breathing, checking the strength of his pulse, and having him try to stand and walk around the room. "It seems like you're almost fully recovered, Mr. Fax. The other priests already purified you of the demonic energy, so there's no point in keeping you here. Just don't strain yourself too much today and you should be fine."

"Thank you, Brother Samuel."

"Now…" The man retrieved a journal and an ink quill from his desk before taking a seat across from Garret, staring at him with a contemplative gaze. "About our chat. Your commandant wanted me to ask you what you fought. Your partner, Ms. Nyman, already spoke with him about it, but he wanted me to confirm it with you. What did you find when you ran into the woods?"

"Ah, um…" Now that he was being interviewed again, Garret's eyes shifted around the room, unable to maintain eye contact. Brother Samuel didn't seem to mind, however. It appeared he was used to dealing with anxious or anti-social patients. "It was some sort of slime. The biggest, blue slime I've ever seen,… but it was smart. It could talk and split itself into smaller slimes, and they seemed to be able to communicate with each other mentally."

Samuel nodded as he wrote Garret's description down. "And what did you do when you found it?"

"I…" He hesitated. He knew what he did was right, but that didn't make it easier to say. "I knew I couldn't fight it, but it was… 'feeding' from three captured guards. They were already half way to becoming incubi so I…" Garret sighed. "I killed them. Couldn't risk a slime that large getting any bigger."

Samuel nodded in understanding. "It sounds like a slime queen. They're exceptionally dangerous and powerful for a slime." He finished writing his report, set it down, and then leaned back in his chair. Looking Garret over again, he thought for a moment. "I think you made the right call, but how are you feeling? Are you ok with this?"

Garret shivered in response. He didn't like killing his fellow man, but sometimes it was a necessity. The guards' fates were sealed once their transformation had begun. "I'm fine. It needed to be done."

Samuel sensed this hesitation but didn't press further. "Alright. I want you to know, though, Naton takes care of its soldiers. If you ever need to talk with someone, you can always come to me, another Hospitaller, or one of the Priests." With that, he got up from his chair and opened the door for Garret. "That should be everything. Take care of yourself, Mr. Fax. You're free to go."

Outside, Annika seemed to have calmed herself down. No longer flustered and teary-eyed, she was happily chatting away with Catherine. When he arrived, they paused their conversation and waved him over.

"You must be starving, Garret. You too, Ann. I propose we all head to the mess hall and get lunch together." As if on cue, Garret's stomach growled. Two days without food meant that it was quite enthusiastic about Catherine's suggestion. Annika nodded as well, bringing the three of them into agreement. "Excellent. You two head there, then, and secure us a table for four. I'll pay a visit to the barracks and see if Mr. Cross would like to join us. Now, then…" She gripped one of the trinkets hanging from her hat, causing it to glow. "Motus Onerariis!" A magic circle appeared around her feet, and a second later, she disappeared in a flash of light.

When Garret stepped onto the street and oriented himself, it became clear why she had chosen to teleport. The Hospitaller's quarters were on the opposite side of the city from the barracks, with the mess hall half way between the two. They had a bit of a walk ahead of them.

"… So who's 'Mr. Cross'?"

"Oh! Eric was the guard who fought with us at the gate. You know, when we were the last three standing before the-"

Annika's words faltered and Garret cut her off. He didn't want to be reminded of it either. "I understand. How did you become friends with him? We never got a chance to talk in the fight."

"He helped me carry you to Brother Samuel after you passed out, and even stuck around for the first day to help. I think he liked your magic." She playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You impressed someone! Good job!"

"It wasn't that impressive…" The two walked in silence for a moment before Garret spoke again. Annika had bounced back to her usual cheerful self pretty quickly… almost too quickly. Was she putting on an act for his sake? "… are you ok, Annika? You were pretty shaken back there."

The question caused her to sigh. "I was worried about you, Garret. We've been working with each other for so long, I thought we'd make it through the war together…" She fell silent again, letting the two walk for a bit before continuing her thought. "…But you're back and no worse for wear, so there's just one thing to do." She stopped suddenly and grabbed Garret by the shoulders, spinning him to face her. "Promise me you'll be more careful with your magic next time."

This time, he managed to force himself to hold her gaze. "… I'll do my best, Annika."

She stared at him for a moment, looking him in the eyes, before dropping her serious expression and smiling again. "Well that's all I can ask. No time to fret about the past anyways, right now it's time for food!" With that, they continued their journey.

* * *

To accommodate the expeditionary troops that arrived from Northreach, the mess hall had been temporarily expanded into one of the city's squares. Worn, wooden tables and benches were arranged around an old fountain in the center, and extra cook tents were set up in a few of the unused alleys. After being given a hearty meal of meat and potatoes, the two quickly found an empty table and sat down. While they waited for Catherine and Eric, Garret examined the fountain they were sitting beside. In the center of its pool stood a weathered, stone sculpture of an angel, either shouting or chanting an incantation. From her outstretched hands, a spray of water arced into the pool, and she leaned forward, as if leading an attack or perhaps bracing herself against the flow. Unfortunately, the statue was damaged from age, and several narrow cracks ran down its side. They leaked moisture and revealed a hollow channel inside, through which the water was pumped before spraying from her hands. He wondered if it could be repaired. Maybe its age made that impossible, or maybe the cracks had already progressed far enough that it couldn't be fixed without remaking the entire fixture.

While Garret was lost in his observations, Annika spotted Catherine and Eric. She stood up and waved them over. Apparently Eric had recently returned from a guard shift, probably overnight, since he was still dressed in his armour (minus his helmet), and his blue eyes had dark circles under them. He collapsed, more than sat onto the bench across from Garret and yawned. "Nyug… Good morning, everyone." Catherine sat down beside him, the charms and crystals on her dark robes jingling as she did. "Mr. Fax, this is Mr. Cross. Mr. Cross, Mr. Fax. I believe you two have met, albeit briefly."

"Yeah, we fought together at the gate. You can call me Eric." The man offered a handshake, immediately making it clear from his vice-like grip that he was the stronger of the two. "So how are you feeling, dead-man? You back to normal yet?"

For the second time that day, Garret was put on the spot, causing him to look anywhere but the eyes of the man across from him. He focused on his plate and replied between bites of potato. "I'm better. Just hungry. Nice to meet you, Eric. Thanks for helping me the other day."

"Oh yeah, no worries man. It wasn't much."

The brief conversation ended just as quickly as it began when Garret and Eric began to focus on their food, only to be restarted by Annika. "There's a lot of rangers here, today. I wonder if something's going on."

Sure enough, across the plaza, almost three tables were all full of male-female archer pairs, clad in their usual leather armour. Beside them lay their quivers and bows. It seemed like they would be leaving for a mission soon.

Catherine nodded in confirmation. "The commandant has been sending scouts out since yesterday to patrol the forest and track that slime queen. They probably want to kill it before it attacks anyone else and regains its strength."

"We might get a mission to hunt it down later… Hopefully after I've gotten a bit of sleep."

Unfortunately, Eric's sleep would have to wait. Half way through their meal, someone let out a shrill whistle. A watch sergeant had stepped onto one of the tables, and with a booming voice, announced an upcoming operation to do just what they suspected: Slay the slime queen. He then produced a scroll from his satchel and began to read off the names of soldiers who would be participating. Annika, Catherine, Eric and Garret were all on the list.

"I understand many of you are part of the Northreach Expeditionary Force! Your usual duties for today have been relieved. To improve unit cohesion, those participating in tomorrow's operation are to report to the training field at noon for sparring and instruction." A low groan emanated from the less-than-enthusiastic crowd. "Wizards are the exception. You will meet at the Mage's guild instead, to assist the preparations of wards and enchantments for this mission. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!", the crowd replied.

"Well at least you gentlemen get to do something somewhat fun." Catherine took a glance up at the sun, and hurriedly chowed down on the remainder of her meal. "I'll need to retrieve my spell books before the meeting, so for now I must leave you. Good luck with your training, Mr. Fax. Ann." She tipped her hat to both of them as she excused herself from the table. "Mr. Cross, would you be a dear and return my plate for me? Thank you~" Eric didn't have a chance to protest. A second later, Catherine had teleported away.

* * *

"So, Garret… Why aren't you with the rest of the wizards at the Mage's guild?"

Shouts and the sounds of wood on wood filled the air around the training field, punctuated by the occasional splintering as a guard broke his or her training sword.

"I'm not a wizard… Just a sorcerer." _Crack! Crack! Crack!_ Garret had the fortune of being paired with Eric for sparring practice, though it was less of a fight and more of Eric teaching him the basics of sword fighting. The Natonian and Northreach soldiers had been distributed such that there was one of each in a pair, allowing the soldiers of each nation to compare and learn from the other's fighting styles.

"The fuck's the difference?" _Thud._ Garret barely managed to block Eric's single attack with his shield.

"Wizards are useful for things other than combat." The pair circled each other, with Eric sizing Garret up, and Garret… basically taking a break. He had no idea what he was doing here. "They use arcane formulae for their spells and do all the complex stuff. Sorcerers just sort of… will their magic into existence. Much faster for fighting, but we can't do many complicated things…"

 _Thud!_ After hearing the explanation, Eric nodded and lunged forward. Garret tried to block the attack, but wasn't fast enough. He was rewarded with a welt on his shoulder for his trouble.

"Hmm… try holding your shield like _this_ and standing like _this_. You'll be able to defend yourself better."

After giving Garret a moment to ready himself, Eric repeated the same lunging attack. This time, Garret managed to block it, albeit just barely. He nodded his thanks to Eric before retaliating with his own flurry of blows.

 _Crack! Crack! Crack!_ "Good! Good aggression! But your form, well… it's terrible. Try to stay more in control of your weapon, you're-" _Crack! Crack!_ _Thud!_ "Ow…" "You're off balance."

Garret had tried to catch Eric off guard, but his wild attacks were easily parried, allowing Eric to bash him with his shield, knocking him flat on his ass.

"Hey, don't get discouraged, man, you're doing well for your first time."

"Got to give it all I can…"

For the next two hours, the two continued to spar, occasionally pausing to rest and allowing a different pair of guards to use their space in the training field. Gradually, Garret was starting to get the hang of it. Of course, a single training session would not a swordsman make, but with Eric's instruction, he would no longer pose more of a threat to himself than his opponents when handling a sword.

A whistle from the training sergeant caused the field to pause as the guards listened for his instructions. "Good job everyone, that's enough weapon training for today. Take a few minutes to rest, then we're going to work on grappling."

Grappling… that was something Garret could do. After their break, the two set down their swords and shields, and took up positions on opposite sides of their training space. Unlike before, where he was unsure of his movements, this time Garret moved deliberately, arms bent in front of him, hands open, ready to grab or block as he stared down his opponent. Eric seemed to pick up on his increased confidence, because he smiled in return. "This more your style, Garret?"

Garret barely acknowledged this, his face remaining expressionless as he formulated a strategy. "Yes."

Seeing his stoicism as a challenge, Eric's grin only grew wider. "Well then I won't hold back!"

The two stepped into their attacks simultaneously. At first Eric got a dominant grip, but Garret managed to break it and move in, pushing Eric backwards as he tried to maneuver into a more favourable position. Eric crouched down and tried to scoop Garret's legs, but he managed to step away. Shooting a leg behind him, Garret grabbed the hunched over Eric across the chest and around his waist.

"HAAAA!" With a mighty twist and pull, he hauled Eric over his leg, sending him crashing to the floor and landing on top of him.

As the two wrestled for dominance in the dirt, Eric spoke between grunts of exertion. "You're… pretty good… for a mage." He rolled over and used his legs to sweep Garret off of him, then lunged, trying to grab him for a choke hold.

"Have to be… can't cast… if someone grabs me…"

Garret broke out of the hold and managed to escape from Eric's grasp, scrambling away from him to get some space. Rather than chasing after him, Eric stood up and the two returned to their starting positions to begin anew. "You're strong, Garret. We're going to have to do this more often!"

"Sure thing." Now, even Garret was grinning, enjoying the feeling of competition in a fight between two equals.

* * *

An hour later, the sergeant whistled again, calling an end to the training, much to Garret's relief. He was about a half second away from tapping out of the choke Eric had put him in. At the start, they were evenly matched, but it had quickly become apparent that Eric's endurance, even with his lack of sleep, was much better than Garret's for martial matters. "You alright down there, Garret?" Eric stood over him, extending a hand to help him up.

"Yeah… Fine… I'm just… going to lay here for a bit."

"No, no, come on. On your feet, soldier!" He grabbed Garret's arm and hauled him to the standing position.

"Thanks..."

"No problem! That was a good fight." The two headed over to the training field's fence to retrieve the waterskins they had previously set there. After such a strenuous workout, they were both thirsty beyond measure.

"You didn't break him did you, Eric?" Between gulps of water, Garret saw a very sweaty Annika walking over to join them.

"No, he fought pretty well! You didn't tell me that Northreach mages trained in hand-to-hand!" The complement caused Garret to smile slightly, despite his dislike of being the center of conversation. Maybe it was ok, since they were praising him.

"No? Well you've got to be careful around this guy!" Annika slung her arm over his shoulders in a gesture of camaraderie. "He may be quiet, but he's full of surprises."

"I'm not that special, Annika…"

"You're more special than some of the dim-wits I had to deal with…" An annoyed voice from behind them caused the group to turn. Catherine was approaching them, with a rather cross look on her face. "Good afternoon, Mr. Fax, Mr. Cross, Ann. I trust your training went well?"

"Very well! I taught Garret a little bit of sword fighting and practiced grappling with him! It was a good time!" Eric flasher her a thumbs up. "We were just thinking about heading to a pub for a drink to relax. Want to join us, Cathy?"

… They were? This announcement was news to Garret and Annika, though neither of them were particularly opposed to the idea.

"Hmm, I would that I could, but I was actually here to talk with Garret. I need his assistance preparing some enchantments."

That caused Garret to raise an eyebrow. "Uh, um… I'm not a wizard, Catherine. I don't know how to enchant things."

She dismissed his uncertainty with a quick wave of her hand. "Please, call me Cathy. Oh, and I am abundantly aware of that. Not nearly enough crystals or scrolls for you to be a proper wizard." She said, gesturing to his plain, red-brown robes. "I just need your help for a few spell components, that's all."

"Uh…" Garret shrugged. Well he did owe her a life-debt, and if she thought he could be useful, he could at least try. "Alright. I'll catch up to you at the pub after we're done, Eric."

* * *

Unlike the professional soldiers of the Natonian guard, Catherine owned her own house in the city and didn't sleep in a barracks or the mage's guild common quarters. It was a small one, crammed between two much larger homes, but surprisingly well kept from the outside.

"Welcome, Welcome. Do come in. Please excuse the clutter."

The inside was another story. Piles of books and magical trinkets dotted the room, covering tables, desks, and overflowing from shelves. At least the floor was relatively clear, and the place was completely free of dust, probably thanks to a few spells.

"No problem… I don't think I've ever seen a Wizard with a tidy house."

Catherine laughed at his remark. "I'm sure you weren't much better when you were a student. At least you got to leave that life behind once you graduated from your academy. For a wizard, though, our studies are never done. This way, please." She guided him through her house, towards some stairs leading into the basement.

"Here we are."

Scattered around the basement lay an arsenal of weapons. Swords and maces lay on a table, and poleaxes and spears were leaned against the wall. This one, dimly-lit basement looked like it housed enough weapons to arm a small crusade.

"Are these all yours?"

"I wish… No, these are the weapons we will be using on tomorrow's mission. We're supposed to enchant them with fire magic, but the other wizards in this city have been absolutely useless… Half of them can't even manage a simple enchantment! What are the universities teaching them these days?" She collapsed on a stool dramatically. Garret leaned against a wall and made himself comfortable. It seemed like she was on a bit of a rant.

"They take students at the age of 8, train them for their whole lives, and release them sometime around the age of 20. That's at least twelve years of education. You would think they could fit a year or two of enchantment research in there, couldn't they? Just, look at this!" She picked up a sword with a ruined hilt to demonstrate. "One of those clueless imbecils thought you could just cast a flame onto the sword and call it a day!" She let out an exaggerated sigh and collected herself. "Right, well you're probably wondering why you're here." Garret nodded in response. "My studies specialize in energy manipulation. The most efficient way for me to enchant these weapons would be to superheat their cutting edges and then cast a spell preventing the loss of that heat energy. Whoever wields the weapon will have their energy drained over time to maintain the spell, but until they start hitting things with it, it shouldn't require any more than what I provide for with the initial enchantment."

While the explanation was interesting, Garret was still trying to figure out his part in the plan. "Alright, but what do you need me for?"

"Well you see, creating a flame from pure energy is incredibly inefficient. I'd be exhausted before I finished the first three swords." She pointed at him as she continued. "But your flame sorcery… that's much more sustainable. I need you to heat these blades up and keep them hot while I weave an enchantment into them."

That made sense, but there was still a problem. "Uh… alright… but I don't think I'll be of much help. I used up all my energy fighting with Eric." To emphasis his point, Garret conjured a small flame in his hand. As he predicted, it was weak and flickering. He couldn't sustain anything much larger than that.

"Hmm…" Catherine looked a bit disappointed at this, before shrugging and unhooking one of the three large crystals from the necklace she was wearing. "I suppose it can't be helped. Here." She held it out for him to take. The crystal thrummed with power. An ordinary person wouldn't notice it, but to someone sensitive to magic like Garret, it might as well have been glowing. When he picked it up, he began to feel something remarkable – energy started to flow from the crystal into him, replenishing his strength. He could even will it to increase the flow, decrease it, or even reverse it to channel energy into the crystal, presumably for later use.

"It's fascinating, isn't it? These are the pride of my research: Energy crystals that can be used by any magician or sorcerer, no matter their discipline. ...But please be gentle with that. They cost a fortune to make, and each one required weeks of spell crafting."

Garret nodded in agreement. "Very impressive… How much energy can they hold?"

"About the same amount a magician can normally access in a day. I tried to store more in the first one I made, but that caused it to shatter."

Once the crystal had finished restoring Garret's energy, he handed it back to Catherine. "Thank you. Now, where should we start working?"

"Let's deal with the polearms first." She quickly strode over to the wall and gathered a half dozen of them in her arms, before depositing them on the floor in front of him. "If you would be so kind, Garret, please heat these. And don't worry about scorching the floor. The whole house is warded against fire."

* * *

With the two of them working together, they managed to enchant the weapons at a fairly rapid pace. Garret would cast a small, but intensely hot flame across the weapon's edges, heating them until they glowed white, and then Catherine would weave her energy enchantment into it, locking them into a state of extreme temperature. Occasionally they had to stop for rest breaks to regain their energy, but within an hour, they had managed to enchant all the weapons and piled them in a corner where their glowing tips wouldn't set anything alight.

"Won't the heat damage the blades over time?"

"No… The other wizards of the city were at least competent enough to help me by warding them against damage. They should be fine for a day or two. Long enough to finish our mission anyway." After taking a moment to survey her handywork, Catherine nodded, pleased. "That should be sufficient. Thank you for your help, Garret. I am in your debt."

"Oh, uh, no problem."

"Well it may not have been a problem, but I greatly appreciate it. As a token of my thanks, I'll let you borrow one of these crystals for tomorrows mission." She removed one of the other, still full, energy crystal from her necklace and began to rummage through one of the old chests stashed away in a corner of the basement. A few minutes later, she came up with a plain looking, dull-grey, chain necklace to attach the crystal to. "Here, this should be sufficient."

"Thank you very much, Catherine." Garret gingerly took the necklace and fastened it around his neck. Almost immediately, he felt some of its energy start to flow into him, though he quickly willed it to stop. He didn't need it yet.

"I said 'Cathy' was fine…"

"I'll take good care of it."

She nodded after hearing this, satisfied. "I'll hold you to that. Now then. Our friends were waiting for us at the tavern, weren't they? We should make haste and join them. Come, Garret, there is food and drink to be had." After grabbing his hand, she chanted a quick incantation, causing a magic circle to appear, and teleporting the two of them away.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed the story so far. The positive feedback I got was great for my motivation. I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Again, please leave reviews if you spot things you think need to be improved, or want to make note of things you like. I appreciate them all.

In my original draft of this chapter, I had cut out the middle portion and went straight into the group's mission to kill the slime queen. I felt this was rushing things a little, though, so I decided to put the proper monster slaying stuff off until next chapter and added the training field and enchantment scenes. Eric and Catherine are supposed to be significant characters in the coming chapters, and I felt that moving on to the fighting too quickly would leave people saying "That's nice, but why should I care about them?". The addition of these scenes let me develop everyone's character a bit.

As for the release times, I managed to finish a project with a few days to spare, which let me get this chapter out much quicker than expected. I've got a bunch of exams over the next few weeks, though, so I doubt I'll be able to repeat this. Again, you can expect to see the next chapter sometime before the heat death of the universe, but rest assured, it will come. Until then, Sayonara!


	3. Day 5 - Finishing What Was Started

**Day 5 / Finishing What Was Started**

"Annika… Annika… Come on, get up, we've got a schedule to keep…"

"Nyug… Just five more hours…"

Garret gently shook her shoulder, trying to coax his companion out of her bunk.

"Annika, you didn't drink that much, you've got no excuse. Come on." When she showed no signs of moving, Garret sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "… I will drag you if I have to."

"No,… no, it's fine… it's fine, I'm up." Annika yawned and slowly sat up, stretching.

He couldn't help but smile at this pitiful, sleepy display. "And you said I needed to keep up with you."

"I'm just..." She yawned again. "Not a morning person." The conversation dried up as the two of them turned away from each other to strip out of their sleeping garments and dress for the day. After Garret had pulled on his pants and robes, he helped Annika don her plate mail. A few minutes later, the two were suited up and ready for a fight.

Outside, the sun was barely cresting the horizon, bathing the city in a dim orange light. At least the sky was clear, so it looked like they'd have good weather, but being in the shadows of the buildings was not helping Garret, nor Annika wake up. The two found themselves yawning occasionally as they walked towards the main gate, trying to shake the grogginess off. By the time they had arrived, the sun had risen enough to light their path and begin to burn away the fog covering the fields and forests beyond the castle wall. Around the gate, a group of about two dozen soldiers were gathered, all in various states of consciousness. This was an early morning for everyone, and it seemed the majority were not enjoying it.

"Mornin', Annika. Hey, Garret."

"Good Morning~"

A familiar blonde-haired guard strode over to them, with a short, brown-haired girl following behind him. She echoed his greeting in a melodic voice.

"Ah! Good morning."

"Good morning, Eric, did ya sleep well?"

"Like a rock." He gave a thumbs up, before gesturing to the girl following behind him. "I don't think you've met Aisha before. She's my-"

"Lover!~"

"partner." Garret and Annika couldn't help but smile and giggle respectively at the sudden interruption, to which Eric could only shrug. "Well, yes, but also combat partner."

While Annika teased Eric about his taste in women, Garret looked over the girl, trying to guess what she did. She had an arming sword sheathed at her hip but wasn't particularly muscular. She couldn't be a frontline fighter. Her colourful doublet, full of reds, golds and blues, was likewise unsuited for any sort of physical combat, and her red, feathered cap, was painfully distinct from the helmets the other guards wore.

"Is something the matter, Garret?" Aisha picked up on him staring at her and tilted her head quizzically.

"Oh. No, no, I was just trying to figure out what you did."

"I'm a spellsinger, couldn't you tell?"

In truth, the performers outfit should have given that away long ago. Garret blamed his grogginess for missing the connection. "Ah… You'll be singing marching songs for us then?"

"Mhmm!" She nodded her head, the massive plume feather bobbing ridiculously in her cap. "I'll sing songs of travel by morning light and songs of battle to help us fight~"

"Alright Gentlemen. Ladies. Everyone form up and listen for your name… Vance?... Richardsson? … Fax?" The sergeant destined to command their mission cut their conversation short when he arrived and began his roll call.

Garret scrambled with the rest of the guards into formation and raised his hand when his name was called. "Here!"

"Nyman… Fields… Gregor…" Somewhere in there, he saw a certain wizard shoot her hand up and announce her presence. Catherine must have just shown up. He hadn't seen her when they first arrived, but she was still technically on time.

"Alright… That seems to be everyone. For those of you who weren't at the mess tents yesterday, our mission is to kill a slime queen that one of our guards spotted a few days ago. The Natonian rangers have been scouting for the past few days, tracking its movements, and it seems to have settled down in the forests near the edge of the Green Sea plains. The reports have also told us that the slime queen is no longer alone. She can split off auxiliary slimes to fight for her, but has also seemingly come to an agreement with the local slime population. The slime colony there is rapidly becoming a threat to the roads, so we're going to have to…" He paused for emphasis. "Deal with it. It shouldn't take more than a half-day to get there. Add in an hour or two for the operation, and we should be home just after dinner. Does everyone have a combat partner?"

A pair of hands shot up. Two guys from Northreach apparently hadn't been assigned one yet.

"Hmm… two men… unfortunate. You'll each have to work in with another pair. It seems we'll have a few trios for this mission." The two soldiers looked at each other, confused, before one of them dared to raise his hand.

"Uh… couldn't we just work together, sergeant?"

The sergeant shook his head. "No. You need at least one female and one male per group. She'll keep you safe from any monster charms, and you're there to guard her against corruption. Just work with, uh… you go with them, you with them." To expedite the process, he paired them essentially at random.

"The spellsingers will keep us moving with their songs. If you have any questions, you can ask them while we march. Daylight's burning, so let's go."

The group began their journey in a somewhat disorganized fashion, before forming into what was more-or-less a column formation after they were outside the city gates. That didn't stop some of their members from darting around to chat, though. In particular, Aisha sprinted off to find the other spellsinger and plan their harmony. A brief flurry of chatter later, they began their duet. By singing one of the songs of travel, they filled the air with magically imbued music, quickening the groups pace and preventing them from tiring.

"Mr. Fax, Ann, I'm working in with you two." Catherine suddenly caught them from behind announcing their new partnership.

Annika certainly didn't seem to have any objections, her eyes lighting up. "Sure! But why didn't you go with one of the other two?"

Catherine shrugged, her crystals jingling. "I only work with people I know."

"You've been here a while though, haven't you? Did you not get assigned a partner?"

"No, I did… she went missing a year ago. Haven't had a new one since." As if sensing the coming question of why she was paired with another woman, Catherine smirked. "I'm a special case, Garret." She chuckled before dropping the topic.

Well, it was one more person for him to watch, but also one more watching him. Plus, Catherine seemed to know her way around the arcane arts. There were worse people Garret could be stuck with.

* * *

The march through the forest was surprisingly peaceful. The wind started to pick up, but not enough to hinder them or cover much noise, and their large group caused most monsters to give them a wide berth. Occasionally they came across a monster girl too stupid or too desperate to stay away, but the foolish ones were quickly dispatched by a flurry of swords and spears without too much trouble. They couldn't afford to chase down individual mamono, they didn't have the time, but any that strayed within reach were fair game.

Eventually they came to a bend in the road where the forest thickened, and this was where they spotted something unusual. Off to the side lay a seemingly abandoned handcart, in perfect condition, but with no sign of the owner. The sergeant gave a quick whistle, signaling for everyone to stop and be on the lookout. Something didn't seem right here.

Slowly, with weapons drawn, the group approached the cart, scanning the forest along the road for potential ambushers. Nothing. They crept forward a bit further. Still nothing. Eventually they reached the cart and got a chance to look inside. It still had some of its cargo there – a few large, empty pots, a pick, a shovel, and a couple other ground-breaking tools. Maybe it belonged to a farmer?

"Sarge, take a look at this."

One of the rangers attached to them had spotted an area where the undergrowth of the forest had been trampled slightly and pushed back. It was barely noticeable from the road, but the professional tracker managed to make it out. It looked like something had been either carried or dragged through here…

"What should we do, sir?"

Garret examined the path as well, which snaked deep into the forest, out of sight. Probably only a handful of people had followed it, or maybe one person walked it multiple times. The sergeant took a moment to think before making his decision. "Make a note of this, we'll send a party to check it out tomorrow. We don't have the time right now, we need to keep moving. Let's go."

With that, Aisha and the other spellsinger began to sing again, serenading the group with a song about a man walking a long and tiring journey to be reunited with his lover. As they left, Garret could have sworn he smelled a light fragrance on the wind…

* * *

By midday, they had arrived at one of the fortified villages in the forest and were allowed to take a quick break. Garret and Annika found a nice shaded spot to rest and sat down, leaning against the village's stockade. Most of the other guards, Catherine and Eric included, tried to take advantage of the brief respite to get a drink from the tavern. Meanwhile, the sergeant could be heard questioning the village guards on the battlements, asking them if they'd seen anything suspicions or if any carts had been through recently. From the sounds of it, though, no one had seen anything.

* * *

A half hour later, they were back on the road and in high spirits. The song had changed again, and Aisha was now singing a much more cheerful tune that brought a smile to most of the guard's faces. No doubt the alcohol also helped. In the distance, a hill loomed before them, the last one before the forest would give away to great plains. That was their destination – the reports said the slime queen had settled somewhere near the hill. As they approached, the sergeant sent a pair of ranger teams off to scout ahead and see if they could find the queen's new location. By the time they returned, the group had made it to the top and been arranged into a rough defensive circle formation to observe movements on the road while they waited.

"The queen hasn't moved, she's in the same spot… though there's more slime girls now than before. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like she's caught any humans yet." The sergeant nodded when he received this report. "Good... Good. Alright everyone, form up, it's time."

The guards returned to their column formation and one of the ranger pairs lead them down the road to the base of the hill, where the woman pointed into the forest beside them. "There aren't any roads leading to the slimes, so we'll have to go through the brush. We didn't see any monsters on the way, but please be careful. We don't want to attract any attention until we're ready."

They continued to guide them through the forest in a single line, with everyone hunched over, creeping slowly through the bush and generally trying to be as inconspicuous as possible… or at least as quiet as a column of soldiers wearing metal armour could be… The thick bushes and overgrowth made movements difficult, hence the need for stealth. If the slimes happened to ambush them, Garret doubted they'd be able to escape. Slimes didn't trip over branches, after all.

As they moved, he kept craning his neck, surveying the surroundings and forest canopy above them. The further they went, the more oppressive the forest got. It wasn't getting thicker, and light was still filtering through the treetops, but the atmosphere started to change. It felt more dangerous, like something was there, always watching you. It didn't seem to bother Annika, or any of the other guards, but a quick glance at Catherine and Aisha found them to be similarly on edge. The whole area was saturated with demonic energy.

"Hey Annika… look." He whispered to his partner and pointed to one of the trees. About half way up, a small tentacle had sprouted from its bark, flexing and grasping at random. Under a bush, a small troop of grey lamentation mushrooms had grown as well, the face-like patterns on their caps oozing red sap and unnerving Garret as he passed them. The area was in the beginning stages of transforming into a demon realm. It wasn't too far gone just yet… if they removed the source of the corruption, the mushrooms, corrupted plants and tentacles would die on their own. Hopefully the slime queen was the source of it, otherwise they would have a lot of work ahead of them…

"So, the corruption has spread this far…"

"I might just be from the slime queen. The plains ahead seem pure."

"I hope you're right, Garret…"

Behind them, Eric had spotted the mushrooms as well and apparently couldn't help himself. He took a step outwards and swept his flaming sword at them, severing their stems and incinerating the remains. Fortunately, no monsters seemed to be around to notice that.

Eventually they came to a clearing. One of the rangers signaled for them to stop and dropped to her stomach, crawling forward in near perfect silence. After a few minutes, she came back holding a small sheet of parchment with a crude drawing of the clearing on it. She and the sergeant discussed it in hushed tones, pointing at different spots on the drawing, before eventually coming to an agreement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, gather 'round, here's the plan." The sergeant waited for the rest of the group to get a bit closer, before continuing in a low voice.

"The clearing has more slimes than we expected, so we're going to have to be careful about this. We're going to split into three groups of eight. One will remain here, the other two will sneak around to the sides. We'll use our spellsingers to signal the attack. Once you hear them, you're going to charge in to surround the slimes. If we can keep them packed close around their queen, they'll be easy targets for our mages and rangers. Aside from that, you need to keep some space between each other at all times. We don't want multiple people caught in spells like what happened at the gate. Any questions?"

The group either stayed silent or shook their heads.

"Good. Now listen up, here's how we'll divide ourselves..."

* * *

Garret crept forward, crouched low as his group – the central one – approached the edge of the clearing. Annika, Eric, and two halberdiers (one of them being the sergeant) were acting as the frontline fighters for their group, with Garret, Catherine, Aisha and the other spellsinger composing their second line. In the clearing ahead of them lay a colourful assortment of slimes, most blue, some red, and the occasional bubble slime (though how those, who mostly dwelt in caves and sewers, managed to get here, Garret had no idea). Of course, there were also a small cluster of slime 'knights' belonging to the queen in the clearing, as well as a bunch of tiny pink slime-like balls hopping around through the grass. Garret was likewise confused about those tiny slimes. They were only about the size of a peach and clearly didn't have enough mass to manifest a female body to feed. Maybe this was the form of an underdeveloped slime that hadn't gotten enough liquids? In the center of it all lay the unmissable bulk of the slime queen. Right now, she seemed to be resting.

The minutes ticked by at a glacial pace while they waited for the other groups to arrive at their positions. How was he going to start? He could blast the closest slime, but maybe he would be more effective throwing a flame spear into the slime queen. See if the explosion would stun her, maybe prevent her from ordering her 'knights' around. He shivered involuntarily as the tension started to get to him. What to do… what to do… Maybe the gasses coming up from a bubble slime were flammable? If he torched one of them, he might not need to use an immolating lance to destroy it in a single blow. How fast was he going to cast? If his tempo was too high, he'd do horrific damage at the start, but be completely exhausted for the remainder of the fight. If the situation went sour later, he wouldn't be able to help, but then again, killing a bunch of slimes early might give them the advantage they needed to win. Garret sighed and shook his head, taking a moment to breath and staring at the dirt. He was overthinking this. Eventually he decided on a plan and settled down. Now he just had to wait and pray they weren't spotted until the time was right…

"Is everyone ready?" The sergeant's rough voice whispered through the quiet.

"Ready." "Yes." "Good to Go!"

No one in the group said they needed more time, so he nodded to Aisha and the other spellsinger. "Let's begin then."

"Yes sir!"

The two singers began their song in low voices, building their magic as they recited one of the Order's battle hymns. Catherine tapped Garret's shoulder and whispered into his ear while they waited. "Stay close to me, Garret, I'll share my energy with you if you need it." Once the hymn had reached its chorus and the magic was about to take full effect, the two spellsingers raised their voices, projecting their song across the clearing. In that moment, all hell broke loose.

The rangers on both sides of the clearing began a rain of fiery arrows towards their targets and the guards charged in, quickly dispatching the startled slimes near the edges of the clearing. Garret conjured one of his flaming spears and hurled it into the upper half of the slime queen's blob. When it detonated, the slime knights around the clearing froze and momentarily lost cohesion while the queen put herself back together. Surprisingly, he didn't feel tired at all after that, just a light tingling in his arms and legs. Beside him, he saw the glow of a magic circle as Catherine chanted an incantation, her voice rising throughout it. When she screamed the last part, she threw a massive bolt of chain lightning forward, which arced between a half dozen slimes. It didn't kill them, not quite, but it did stun them as the electricity crackled around their bodies, leaving them to be easy targets for the guards, who boiled them away with their fiery weapons. She didn't seem any worse for wear either after that massive expenditure of energy. The battle hymn must be masking their fatigue, letting them fight stronger for longer. Or maybe she was just that good at what she did…

The initial slaughter gave the guards a fantastic start, allowing them to easily dispatch a quarter of the slimes in the span of a few minutes, but once the initial shock wore off, the battle became much more even. The goo composing a slime knight's shield and armour was thicker than usual, enough to deflect a sword blow, and the red slimes could move faster than their blue cousins. The bubble slimes and blue slimes weren't much of a threat individually, but they still easily outnumbered the guards three to one. According to the plan, the guards with melee weapons spread out, encircling the slimes, while the rangers and other mages prevented too many from attacking a single guard at once.

A red slime surged forward, dodging around a guard's swings, before engulfing the man. It was intelligent enough to know it couldn't turn him there, so it began to drag the man with it, back towards the slime queen. In response, someone, who seemed to be an earth sorcerer, shot a blast of small pebbles into it, like grapeshot from a cannon. This disrupted it enough for the man to escape, but the slime managed to pack the pebbled floating inside it together into a ball and sent it flying right back! The sorcerer was caught by surprise and was knocked over by the projectile, dazed. For the rest of the battle, Garret was amused to see that he only fired shards of rock with enough force to pierce entirely through a slime, no doubt to prevent that from happening again.

While this was going on, Eric and the two halberdiers were working closely together. With his shield, he was blocking slime advances and deflecting the occasional slime arrow while the sergeant and other guard stayed behind him, jabbing and chopping at any slime within reach. All together, they defended their two spellsingers and pressed forward. Annika, in the meantime, was remaining a bit closer to Garret and Catherine, still hacking away at slimes, but more trying to keep them far enough away that they had time to work their magic. The occasional bolt of lightning from Catherine or fireball from Garret dealt with any slimes that made it past her guard. As he continued to fight, the strange feeling in Garret's body increased, eventually reaching the point where it was becoming physically painful. That must be his signal to stop. He took a knee and began to syphon energy from the crystal Catherine had given him. Sure enough, as he drained the crystal his body returned to normal. He'd have to remember that for the future.

After a few of the slime knights were dispatched, the circle began to close as the guards forced the slimes closer and closer to their queen. At one point, the queen started casting her own magic, conjuring balls of adhesive goop over the guards, trying to trap them. Some of them got caught in it and dragged away, but most managed to escape. Though a few were captured, they weren't losing soldiers fast enough to make a difference. At one point, the queen switched tactics and tried to arc a slime ball towards the mages and archers, but the earth mage spotted it before it arrived and intercepted it with a chunk of rock. His aim was a little off, with the rock shard impacting the side of the sphere, but it was enough. The force of impact caused the ball to burst and splatter its adhesive payload over mostly empty grass. As the battle progressed, the slime queen rapidly began to look more and more exhausted. Eventually she stopped casting spells all together.

The remaining twenty or so slimes were getting packed increasingly tightly as they tried to defend their queen. The situation was getting desperate, and it looked like they might make a last, frantic push to try and overwhelm the guards. If they managed to break through, they might be able to reverse the tides of battle. Sensing the turning point, the sergeant shouted a command to his soldiers. "They're close enough, this is it! Mages! Spellsingers! You know what to do!"

While the other spellsinger kept the hymn of battle going to sustain them, Aisha stopped singing and began a speech. "Mages of The Order, make ready! The Chief Goddess smiles upon our cause and is with us here, today! She longs for us to show the demons the true power of righteousness! Unleash your fury and your magic! Conjure a great conflagration to demonstrate our power! All the world must know!"

The forest and clearing around Garret disappeared, and he found himself in a desert. He was leading a cavalry charge, a part of a grand knight's company, breaking through monster lines in a battle long since passed into legend. Then he was an archer, frantically firing from the top of a sand dune, trying to keep monsters at bay as the battle's favour turned against them. Suddenly he was a foot soldier locked in a desperate duel with an Amazoness as the army around him routed. He slipped and she batted his sword to the side, before picking him up to take him as her own. Finally, he was himself. A lone mage perched atop a cliff, overlooking the battle, with the knowledge that he was the only one who could save them. And he was going to. He brought forth all of his energy and began to focus his magic one last time.

The illusion around him faded, but the feeling of doom and destiny remained, along with a surge of magical energy granted by the spell. Back in the clearing, Garret directed his magic to swirl beneath the remaining slimes, before exploding upward in a spectacular pillar of flame. The fires lasted only a few seconds, but that was all that was needed to incinerate a handful of slimes and severely wound the queen. Catherine was likewise affected by Aisha's spell and called a massive bolt of lighting from the heavens, vaporizing a half dozen. The earth sorcerer's own contribution was much smaller than their spells, likely because he lacked the energy crystals Garret and Catherine had. He had conjured a whirling storm of rocks and dust which would have stripped flesh from bone, but instead, splattered the last few slimes across the ground, finishing them off.

With her 'army' dealt with, the queen cowered behind the five or so human guards stuck in her slime, who had been captured but not yet turned. No doubt they were happy that Garret had kept the presence of mind to scorch the queen from the opposite side of them.

"Please! Please stop! I'll do anything you want!"

Unlike the common red and blue slimes who never knew when to quit, the queen was intelligent enough to realize she was about to die and began to beg for mercy, shrinking down and trying to look as helpless and submissive as possible.

"I'll be your slave! I'll fuck you as much as you want! I'll do anything you desire, so please! Please don't kill me! I was just so hungry!"

… But apparently not quite intelligent enough to realize that sex with a monster was the last thing an Order soldier was supposed to want.

The sergeant stepped forward to address her. "Release our men."

"But…"

"Release them now and you might make it out alive." He half smirked, probably enjoying the feeling of power before one of The Order's sworn enemies. "You're really not in a position to argue."

The slime queen looked at her captives, who were still struggling to escape, then at the swords and spears leveled at her, before making what was probably the hardest decision for a monster to make. Her slime receded and the captured guards were released alive, unharmed and unchanged.

The sergeant nodded as the captives scrambled back behind their lines. "Thank you." Turning to address the rest of the soldiers, he congratulated them on their success.

"Excellent work, ladies and gentlemen. We faced a queen with her slime army and triumphed with no losses. You should all be proud of your work, but now it's time to wrap things up here." He pointed back to the queen, who was looking saddened at her loss, but relieved at being allowed to live.

"Kill her."

Her relief turned to horror as she heard these words. "No! But I-"

The words died in her throat as the guards descended on her, slashing her apart and boiling away her slime until there was nothing left.

"No half measures means no regrets! Take no prisoners and do not become one!" He raised a fist in triumph. "For the Chief Goddess and for The Order."

"For the Goddess and The Order!" A chorus of voices echoed him.

"Spellsingers, thank you for your work, you can rest your voices. We'll recover here for an hour before we begin our march back. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

When Aisha and the other spellsinger ceased their hymns, it felt like the world came crashing down on Garret. The strain of his spell, hidden by the hymn, finally rushed back to him, causing his vision to flicker as he dropped to his knees. If he hadn't used the crystal's energy earlier, he'd probably have passed out immediately. Around him, most of the guards were in similar shape, their weapon enchantments having sapped more energy than they were used to. Only the rangers were spared, who kindly volunteered to keep watch while the group rested.

In the sleepy confusion of everyone trying to find their partners, Annika managed to make her way over to him. "Good work, Garret."

"You too, Annika… Hang on, you've got a bit of slime on you."

One of the pink slime balls had attached itself to Annika's boot and seemed to be trying to ooze into her armour unnoticed. Garret didn't have the energy for a spell, so he smashed it with a nearby rock. Fortunately, with its small size, that was all it took to kill it.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

She dropped her pack to use as a makeshift pillow and lay down on it, patting the ground beside her for Garret to join her. When he did, she shot her arm under him and pulled him close. Cuddling like this, the pair quickly fell asleep from their exertions.

* * *

An hour-long nap was not nearly enough for a full recovery, but it was enough to get them moving again. Catherine stopped by and was kind enough to share the energy from her last crystal with Garret and Annika, as well as Eric and Aisha, putting them leagues beyond the rest of the soldiers in terms of fatigue. Because of that, when they returned to the capital, they were the only ones visiting the tavern for a celebratory drink. Everyone else immediately went to sleep in the barracks.

"I really didn't think a Spellsinger could do things like that."

"Oh, we can do a lot more than that, Garret! Just keep us safe as we sing like some… … Parrots?"

Aisha paused, grasping at fleeting thoughts, trying to come up with a better rhyme, before shrugging and taking a large gulp of ale. "We can't really fight on our own, but we'll help you make history. Or at least make marching a lot more enjoyable!" She giggled as Eric put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

"Aisha is extremely talented with her singing. I couldn't ask for a better partner."

Annika nodded at this and smiled. The couple's happiness was infectious. "Mhmm, yes, you two do suit each other very well."

"Did you do any operations like that back in Northreach, Garret?" This time Catherine was the one who kept the conversation going.

"No,… not really. Northern monsters are more isolated. Less social. They rarely band together in groups, so small patrols are all we need to keep an area clear." He took another swig from his mug, choking down the bitter beverage. It wasn't that he didn't drink, just that Northreach mead tasted much better than this swill.

Their conversations lasted long into the night, but of course, with increased alcohol consumption, filters were lost, and less appropriate topics were brought up. When Annika left to get them another round of drinks, Catherine sidled up to Garret and pulled him towards her.

"So Garret~ What's going on with you and Annika?"

"Hmm? We're combat partners."

Eric leaned across the table and cut in, a mischievous look on his face. "Are you… more than combat partners?"

"No, we're-"

Catherine suddenly interrupted him. "Have you fucked her?"

"What?! N-No!"

"Hehe… He looks so cute when he's blushing." Now Aisha was giggling at his expense and Garret was feeling very much outnumbered. Flustered, he shook Catherine off of his arm and retreated to the corner of their bench.

"W-What's up with this? Come on, stop ganging up on me!"

"Well she's just such a cute girl, and you two work so well together…" Suddenly Catherine grabbed him again. "If you don't want her, Garret, can I have her?" Immediately, the nature of her 'special case' became apparent.

"No, Cathy, I think Annika is into guys."

"Hmm… what a waste…" Catherine pouted and let go of him. "You do like her though, right?"

Garret sighed. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get out of this unless he gave them a little… "Yeah… yes I do like her."

This proved to be a mistake, as he was immediately barraged with questions like 'Why haven't you told her?' 'Did she turn you down?' and 'Are you a Eunuch?". The last one caused him to spit out his drink.

"No! No, I assure you everything is where it should be down there…"

Unable to hold the gaze of those interrogating him, Garret took another swig and then stared into his drink. Even with the alcohol loosening his lips and boosting his confidence, he could only take so much.

"It's just… we're in a war, you know? It didn't seem right, and what if she does say no? Then working together is going to be awkward and just… no…" When he looked up, he saw shit-eating grins plastered across everyone's faces.

"You're not fooling anyone with that 'she might say no' crap, Garret. Everyone knows she likes you."

"Yeah, you two were practically napping on top of each other a few hours ago."

"You really need to learn how to read a woman's heart. She's waiting for you to make the first move!"

"Alright, alright! Fine! I'll think about it."

"You'd better." Catherine punched him in the shoulder. She was unusually physical and playful tonight… Maybe that was how she was while drunk.

When Annika returned with the next round of ale, the group looked expectantly at Garret, who began blushing furiously. "What?"

"I-It's nothing. I'll tell you later."

The group let out a collective disappointed sigh and got back to their drinking. Eventually, though, all 'good' things must come to an end and Eric and Aisha excused themselves, citing the need to get some sleep.

"Yeah… I sh…sh…should sleep too…" Catherine stood up and started to walk with them, only to trip over her own feet and collapse, much to the group's amusement.

"I don't think she's going anywhere." Eric laughed and picked her up, literally slinging the woman over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Alright, Cathy, lets get you home… ew, you're all sticky. Did you spill your drink on yourself?"

With everyone else leaving, Annika and Garret weren't far behind. It was late and they were both exhausted, so they began the trek back to their rooms in the barracks as well.

* * *

As they changed into their night clothes, Annika poked Garret in the back.

"So… what was that all about? Why ya blushin'?"

"Nothing… Nothing, they were just teasing me."

"Is that so…"

Annika didn't look like she believed a word of that but didn't pry further. The two crawled into their respective beds and snuffed the lantern. Almost immediately, though, Garret was feeling regret. He should have told her. Maybe it was the alcohol… ok, it was definitely the alcohol, but he did love her.

"Hey Annika?"

"mmm… Yes, Garret?"

"I uh… Thanks for all your help, Annika. For everything. Uh… I love you…"

Already he was blushing again, embarrassed and having no idea how to say it aside from just blurting it out. Annika didn't seem to mind though. She giggled a little, before replying "No problem, Garret. I love you too."

His mood lifted, Garret smiled as he rolled over and settled in for sleep. It was nice… nice to have his feelings returned, and someone to-

"Are you serious, Garret?! Are you really just going to leave it like that? God, you really are hopeless, you know…" He felt someone lift the covers and crawl into his bed with him. Annika hugged him from behind, pressing her body against his.

"That's better… Goodnight, Garret."

He patted her arm affectionately. "Goodnight, Annika."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well that's that. Romance is set up, the slime queen has been slain, toss a little world building and characterization in there, and we've got another chapter. Something about this just feels… off, though. Like I couldn't quite strike the balance I was looking for between dialogue, travel descriptions and combat. Can't figure out how to fix that, unfortunately, despite spending a few days editing this, so if anyone has any ideas, you know what to do.

As for the combat side of things, I'm trying to avoid the typical 'adventuring party against the world' sort of dynamic. This is a war, after all, and despite the plot following Garret and company, there are thousands of other soldiers out there fighting with them, and he is very much just a member of the rank and file. There might be the occasional chapter where I send them on a mission alone, but for the most part, I'm going to try to write combat as a series of small unit skirmishes. If any of you have ever read 'The Forever War', you'll know what I'm trying to get at. Coincidentally, that's also where I took the inspiration for the hypnotism spell from. In that book, they used hypnotism once to make soldiers fight better and without restraint, so why couldn't there be a way to do that with mages, boosting their moral and facilitating their magic?

Again, thank you all for stopping by to read this, it's always nice to see that view count tick up. Doubly so if it's followed by an increase in reviews or follows, haha.

You can probably expect the next update sometime around the beginning of April. I'm swamped with work, as I try to finish off my exams and final projects for the semester. This is what a Master's does to you, kids. It makes you want to write monster girl fanfiction, and then takes away all your time to do it.

Until then, Sayonara!


	4. Day 6 - Fracture

**Day 6 / Fracture**

"Nyug… Water…"

"Is this going to be a regular thing for you, Annika? Am I going to have to tend to you every morning?"

The long night of drinking had apparently hit Annika hard, leaving her very hungover – something Garret was enjoying teasing her about.

"Maybe… Ow." She winced and hid back under the covers, hiding from the light streaming in through their room's slit window. "How do you do it, Garret… You drank more than me!"

That question elicited a smile from him. "It takes a surprising amount to get me drunk, Annika." His tolerance for alcohol was something he was slightly proud of. Though he wasn't an extremely muscular or heavyset person, he could handle his alcohol much better than most. The reason for that was a mystery to him, however. Apparently, his resistance didn't stop at just alcohol, though. The one time when he was assigned to a long-range patrol back in Northreach, the group's rations had unknowingly spoiled. They had to return home with only half their route done when everyone in the patrol got food poisoning. Well, everyone except Garret. Somehow, he had managed just fine.

"I'll get you some water, just wait here." He patted her on the shoulder and then grabbed a water bucket on his way out.

* * *

Outside the barracks, Garret was first blinded by the sunlight, then startled by a shout of "Look out!" Quickly stepping back indoors, a trowel landed on the ground in front of him. "You alright?" When his eyes adjusted, Garret noticed the source of the falling tool. A ladder was propped beside the door, and a craftsman at its top was spreading some mortar or some other paste over a crack in the bricks.

"I'm fine." Garret curtly responded, before ducking to pick it up. When the man began to climb down to retrieve the tool, he handed it to him, half way. "Thanks. Sorry 'bout that, I lost my grip."

"I thought this was a new building. Why does it need repairs already?"

The craftsman shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe the foundation wasn't quite as good as the builders thought it was and something caused it to shift. No matter, it's a fair-sized crack but so long as we fix it up and don't just leave it alone, the building should be fine."

Garret nodded, wished the man well, and then began his walk down one of the wide cobblestone streets. He didn't know his way around the city yet, but he could have sworn he saw a communal well in one of the squares when he first arrived.

* * *

Sure enough, there it was. A couple blocks away from the barracks, he found the well and joined the line of people waiting to fill their buckets. As horses trotted by and civilians scurried about their lives, he took a few minutes to watch the goings on while he waited for the line to move. Come to think of it, Catherine's house was nearby, wasn't it? He should swing by it to return her crystal after getting the water. A commotion at the front of the line suddenly alerted him to the fact that that might not actually be necessary. He hadn't paid much attention to the people around him before, but apparently Catherine herself had actually been at the front of the line. The commotion was caused by her stumbling and spilling a bunch of her water over herself and one of the men beside her.

"S-Sorry! Sorry!" She quickly apologized as she began to hurry away.

"Catherine!" Garret called out to her and left the line trying to intercept her.

Catherine looked back for a moment, blushing, wet, and very haphazardly dressed. It almost looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and from the discoordination in her movements, there was a significant chance of that.

"I-I-I've got to do something, Garret. Talk to you later!" Before he could stop her, she hurried away and pushed through the crowd, barely keeping the water in her bucket as she moved.

Odd… She was acting strangely today, though maybe that was the alcohol still affecting her. She did drink a _lot_ last night. Maybe he should check on her later.

* * *

After he had filled his bucket, half way back to the barracks, Garret was suddenly stopped by a female ranger. The woman ran up to him, sweaty and out of breath. It looked like she'd been sprinting around for a while.

"Excuse me, you're…" She paused to calm her breathing and regain her composure. "You were one of the mages on yesterdays mission, right?"

Her sudden appearance and questions had Garret taken aback, but he managed to keep enough presence of mind to nod in confirmation.

"Oh good. Listen, could you do me a huge favour? My partner is too hungover to fight, but the officers want me to lead a few new recruits on a scouting mission. They want us to check out that path we found. Would you mind working with me for this mission? Please~?" The brown-haired girl batted her (rather pretty) green eyes at him, not knowing that Garret already had a partner and flirting wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"Uh, wouldn't another ranger be a better choice?"

The girl just shook her head, an annoyed look crawling across her face. "Most of them are too hung over… The ranger corps all went drinking together to celebrate, and only a few are upright." She let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't drink, so I was the one who got stuck with the mission. The rangers are drunk, the soldiers are still exhausted, and anyone left in fighting shape has been put on guard duty on the walls. You're the first free person I've found!"

Somehow Garrett suspected that not _everyone_ was busy and were more likely just using the excuse to get a day off after the battle, an excuse he could also use. It wasn't like a ranger would know what the wizards and sorcerers were assigned. …But someone had to help her. Might as well be him…

"Alright." He nodded, causing the girl to grin. "I need to tend to my own hung-over partner first, but I'll meet you at the gate."

"Excellent! I'll see you there." She turned and was about to leave before remembering something. "I'm Rin." She said as she extended her hand.

"Garret." He replied, shaking it.

* * *

"Feeling any better, Annika?" Garret slowly eased the door to his room open.

"… Not really…" She still wasn't moving, and he could only smirk at the pitiful scene laid out before him.

"I brought some water. Here." He dipped a mug from their mess kit into it and handed it to her when she managed to prop herself up. "Damn, you really do look like hell…"

He sat down on the bed beside her. Annika was covered in sweat, had dark circles under her eyes, and a bunch of terribly frazzled hair. She did not look like she was going anywhere anytime soon.

"Thanks…" She took the mug and began to sip.

"Are you going to be ok if I leave you for a bit? A scouting party needs a mage, and I'm the only one who's free."

"Yeah… Yeah, I'll be fine… Just be careful, Garret."

"Yes, dear~" Garret threw an arm around her and gave a quick peck on the cheek before standing up and heading for the door. "Take it easy, ok? I'll be back soon."

* * *

"Draw! Strike! Left! Right! Block!"

At the city gate, Rin was running through a weapon drill with two pairs of young soldiers, no doubt taking advantage of the time they had while waiting for Garret to sneak in a bit of extra training. The two men… if you could even call them that, for they barely looked 18, and one of the women were cutting the air in front of them with their longswords. The other girl, an archer who couldn't practice without a target, was simply watching. As Garret approached them, Rin waved and then called their practice to an end.

"Good of you to join us, Garret. This is Robert, Jack, Anna and Kayla. Everyone, this is Garret. He's a veteran magician, so listen to what he has to say!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

Rin quickly ran through introductions at way too fast of a pace. He had his doubts he would remember any of the group's names by the time they arrived at the trail.

* * *

A short while down the road, one of the new guys worked up the courage to ask a question, despite Garret trying to look as unapproachable as possible.

"Uh… Garret. You're a wizard, right? What do you do?"

"Sorcerer." He corrected. It seemed Natonian bloodlines didn't produce many of them, else he wouldn't have had to clarify this so many times.

"I work flame magic. Explosions, flaming spears, very basic combat spells."

That seemed to satisfy them for a bit, but it didn't take long before he was getting plied with more questions and requests for parlour tricks. Much to his displeasure (and Rin's amusement), Garret quickly ended up becoming the center of attention and the group's defacto entertainment as they marched. This only came to an end when they reached the wagon, and Rin hushed everyone.

"Recruits! Quiet! We don't know what's around here."

Everyone dutifully shut up as Rin surveyed the abandoned wagon from a distance and then motioned for them to creep forward. Nothing about the wagon had changed since yesterday, though maybe the path was a bit wider? Or maybe he was just imagining things…

"Column formation, two by three. Jack, Anna, you two take point. Garret and I will be in the middle. Robert, Kayla, you bring up the rear."

Rin apparently had a bit of experience commanding a team, and quickly got them organized, protecting the more vulnerable archers and magician with the armoured soldiers. Once they were in formation, she motioned in the direction of the path.

"Alright. Squad, advance. _Quietly_. And keep an eye out for anything unusual."

* * *

After the initial stretch of overgrown plants, the underbrush thinned enough for the group to walk comfortably. What began as brambles and bushes slowly gave way to less unpleasant undergrowth, and eventually, small collections of flowing plants. The blossoms, rare at first, but growing in number as they progressed, filled the air with a pleasant fragrance and did wonders for boosting moral. The pleasant scent was a double-edged sword, though. While it was much nicer than getting scraped by thorns and branches, it lulled them into complacency. Garret found himself drifting into daydreams and having to force himself to focus multiple times as they walked.

Eventually, the disarming fragrance shifted to something far more dangerous. The scent got stronger, and with it, so did its effect on the group. What was at first disarming was rapidly becoming alluring, and without realizing it, the men in the group had quickened their pace, marching towards the source of that wonderful smell. Once they began to near jogging speed, Rin clued in to what was happening.

"Squad halt!" She came to a stop, only to have the male soldier behind her ignore the order and push past her.

The soldier in the front kept marching as well, only the women and Garret stopped. The women, because the scent hadn't affected them like it had the men, and Garret because he thought he heard something. Did Rin say something? He looked at her quizzically, then turned back to the trail. The other men were still marching, it must have been his imagination…

"Don't just stand there, stop them!"

She ran up to Garret, spun him around, and then delivered a stinging slap across his face. That woke him up. The other women scrambled after their partners, stopping them with similar tactics, though the soldier-girl was a little rougher. She grabbed her partner, and quite literally threw him to the ground, tossing him over her hip. Once the other men had been startled out of their trance, they were dragged over to Rin by their respective partners. She, in turn, looked over at Garret, expectantly.

"You know what this is, right Garret?"

He nodded in response. They weren't too active in the far north (the long winters kept them in hibernation), but plant monsters did exist. "Alraune… Plant mamono. Their scent entrances men and is used to lure prey."

Rin nodded in satisfaction. "Exactly. Listen up, here's the plan. We need to finish this before their smell affects you any longer." She gestured to the men of the group. "We're going to move quickly. When you see the alraune, if there's only a few, charge. They'll try to grab you with their vines, but if you can run them through, that'll disorient them enough for you to finish the job. Try to sever their legs. Despite what they look like, they don't have the same internal organs we do, but cutting their connection to the roots should kill them. Any questions?" She didn't even wait for them to answer. "Good. For the men, bite your tongues, pinch your cheek, cut yourself, I don't care, but do something to keep focused. Can't have you entranced again. Now, let's go! Double time!"

With that, the group hustled through the forest, weapons drawn and ready for combat. They didn't have time for stealth when every minute spent in the alraune's fragrance sapped the men's willpower and muddied their consciousness.

After getting favorable battlefields in his last two fights, Garret was almost expecting that this one would take place in another clearing, but unfortunately that was not the case. At the end of the path, five alraune were scattered amongst the trees, flowering shrubs, and hanging vines. Also, unlike the previous fights, these ones looked like they were ready for them. They were all facing the direction the group approached from, waiting with open arms. When he saw that, he should have realized the fight was over before it started, but with the fragrance in the air making it hard to think, Garret could only follow his orders the best that he could.

The three soldiers charged a pair of alraune, but a myriad of vines exploded out of the grass and bushes, reaching to grab them. The two men were caught, but surprisingly, the female soldier managed to cut her way through, slicing at the vines that grabbed for her, before leaping at the closest alraune and impaling it with her sword. Just according to plan, some of the vines slackened as the plant mamono writhed in pain. With a powerful blow, she severed its legs, killing it. Garret made his own contributions by throwing gouts of fire at the vines, incinerating some and freeing one of the bound soldiers. Once he was down, the man immediately began to cut the vines that had caught the other, freeing him as well, and allowing them to continue the fight. While this was going on, Rin and the other archer girl were peppering the alraune with arrows. They didn't do as much damage as a sword, and many of them got swatted out of the air by supernaturally fast-moving vines, but their distraction let the group of swordsmen fight to and cut through a second alraune. Two down, three to go. Despite the rough start, it the battle seemed to have turned around.

That notion was quickly corrected when Garret heard something rustle the grass in front of him. He took a step back, startled, then dropped when vines shot out of the grass, grabbing for him. The vines barely missed him as he fell, and after losing their original target, immediately changed directions and headed for one of the female archers. She noticed them too late and was caught, getting dragged away kicking and screaming.

"Shit! Garret, keep burning things, I'm going to get her back!" Rin dropped her bow and drew an arming sword, then ran after the girl and the retreating vines.

With no more arrows keeping the other alraune busy, Garret was forced to cast faster and faster to protect the soldiers. Even so, he couldn't do much more than stop them from being overwhelmed. Without the arrows, the group had stopped moving, forced into a defensive fight when the alraune began to bring all of their vines to bear. As the struggle went on, the exertion started to rapidly wear him down. This wasn't a battle of attrition he could win, he needed to do something big to break the stalemate. He had just enough energy left… maybe if he conjured a pillar of flames, he could incinerate the vines and injure one of the alraune - open a path for the soldiers.

He reached out a hand and moved it in a swirling motion, using the gesture to help him focus his magic, as he prepared to summon a grand conflagration. Suddenly, something clamped down on his arm, holding it in place. Another vine?! Garret tried to look down but found he couldn't move his head either. His legs were likewise rooted in place. With his senses dulled as they were, it took a moment to understand exactly what had happened. A paralysis spell!

"Sorry, darling, but I can't let you vandalize my garden any further." A seductive voice spoke from behind him, no doubt the source of the spell. "Though I must say, I'm impressed. I didn't think a wizard would be able to concentrate in this haze. Maybe there's something special about you… No matter. If you can't move, you can't cast, right~?"

Wrong! But he couldn't risk it. What ever paralyzed him thought he was a wizard (who _did_ need to gesture to cast), that was his trump card. He couldn't reveal the truth until he knew what he was fighting.

Without his fire, it didn't take long for the trio of soldiers to be overwhelmed and captured by the vines.

"Garret, what are you doing!?"

Rin, who had managed to cut down and rescue the archer, was busy fighting off vines as the two retreated. When she looked to determine why the magic stopped, she froze, then instinctively reached for where she would have sheathed her bow, had she not dropped it. That pause was enough for the vines to grab her and recapture the other. With that, the fight was over. Everyone had been captured.

"Hmm… You killed two of my alraune, not bad… but you brought three women! That's a profit!"

The source of the voice finally presented itself as a stunning, golden haired youko stepped into Garret's view. With her voluptuous body, fine red dress, and six fluffy tails, her beauty was nearly unmatched. She likely could have any man she wanted, had their species not been at war.

Six tails… six… Garret didn't know much about youko, but he did know that the number of tails indicated magical power. Around her, the air crackled with magic. Wards, no doubt to protect her if someone managed to get free of her 'garden'. He was doomed… there was no way he could fight someone that powerful head on, even if he could get free.

The fox woman brushed past Garret, running a hand over his shoulder as she did, and headed towards the alraune to inspect their catches. Already the vines had disrobed them and held them out for her to inspect.

"Let go of us, you bitch! This isn't a place for you!" One of the swordsmen struggled against the vines binding him, eliciting a giggle from the alraune and youko alike.

"Oh I intend to change that! And you're going to help me do it. Once this garden gets big enough, we'll have our own little demon realm all to ourselves."

Then it was Rin's turn to speak. She had seemingly given up struggling and was glaring daggers at the woman in front of them.

"You're not going to get away with this, you know. When we don't return, they'll send more soldiers looking for us. Your 'garden'-" She spit the word out with distaste. "-is going to burn either way."

The youko smiled when she heard this and began to walk towards Rin. The alraune holding her retracted some of their vines, exposing her breasts and groin as they sensed what she intended to do. Without saying a word, the fox woman reached up and began to fondle Rin's breasts with one hand and traced her other's fingers over her dripping slit for a moment before plunging them in. At first Rin tried to maintain her composure, blushing furiously and glaring at her assailant, but eventually the woman's ministrations got the better of her. As she worked her fingers, the pleasure, intensified by her demonic energy, started to overwhelm Rin, who began to unconsciously moan and eventually buck her hips against the fingers violating her. After she had been reduced to a sweaty, panting mess, the youko stepped away, her previous, pleasant smile having twisted into a mischievous smirk.

"I think I'll be able to handle a few soldiers… but never mind that, don't you have more important things to worry about now?"

The youko turned and motioned for Garret to come to her. As she did, Garret felt his body moving on its own, obeying her commands. Being able to command an effect like that nearly effortlessly… He quickly realized that this wasn't a garden variety paralysis spell… this was something far stronger.

She met him in a relatively clear spot on where all the alraune were in view, then sat down and commanded him to join her. Again, his body dutifully obeyed, stepping in front of her, sitting down between her legs, and leaning back into her waiting embrace. Garret stiffened at her touch. It was the only form of resistance he could give.

"Aww, don't be scared, Mr. Wizard. It's ok to stay like this…" She gently pulled him backwards, letting him rest against her soft breasts as she wrapped her tails around him. "Just relax… Aren't I warm? Aren't my tails comfortable? Just lean back and enjoy. We have a show to watch…"

As much as he hated to admit it, Garret had to agree. Her luxuriously soft tails made him feel right at home. Safe, sound, warm and almost sleepy… though he quickly became aware of a heat rising within himself as her demonic energy soaked into him, causing his erection to stiffen as he slowly grew more and more horny.

"Garret, you bastard! Did you betray us?! Do something!"

As the alraune began to drag the women towards their bulbs, Rin shouted at him, unaware of the spell that had caused his apparent complacency. No… No he didn't… But even though Garret wanted to protest this with all his heart, the youko's spell wouldn't let him. Nor could he cast to free them without her interfering… All he could do was watch helplessly as the women were dropped into the alraune blossoms.

"You'll burn for this, you know! No mercy for traitors!"

She had it all wrong, but the words still stung… Rin looked like she was about to shout again, but the alraune beside her twisted her head and planted a long, sloppy kiss on her lips, force feeding her mouthfuls of nectar. When the plant girl released her, Rin fell back, blushing, panting and desperate to get more. The alraune was all too happy to oblige and reached down, scooping another handful of nectar to smear across her partner's body and mouth. The aphrodisiac in the nectar stoked Rin's arousal and soon the two were grinding against each other as vines massaged them both.

"Where is that bravado from before? She gave in just as quickly as the rest of them…", the youko whispered in Garret's ear.

A proud soldier of The Order laid low and reduced to a horny wet mess, grinding away on what should have been her mortal enemy… The sight hurt to watch. After several minutes of kissing, grinding and fingering each other, Rin began to change. Slowly, a green tint crept up her legs as her feet fused together into the roots that would soon sustain a new flower. Her brown hair began to shift to a dark shade of green as well, and a small flower bud sprouted from the side of her head. Her breasts, originally small, began to swell rapidly, enlarging by several cup sizes and leaking nectar as they did. Though he didn't have much of a choice, Garret made sure to watch and pay attention to the whole scene, documenting the last moments of his comrade in his mind. It was the only thing he could do, remember who she was, how she lived and how she 'died'. At least so long as he was alive, her story wouldn't be completely forgotten.

When the alraune sensed Rin's transformation was nearly completed, she intensified her movements, fingering her with a renewed intensity and passionately kissing her again. Rin began to tremble as orgasm after orgasm rocked her body, the mind-shattering pleasure overwhelming her. As she did, the flower in her hair unfurled into a beautiful red blossom, and the remainder of her natural skin colour quickly faded to green. That was the end of her. The alraune smiled as the monster that had been Rin slumped against her shoulder, exhausted from the ordeal. She hugged her 'sister' and stroked her hair for a moment before using her vines to lift the girl up and move her to a nearby patch of fertile soil. When her 'legs' touched the ground, the roots at Rin's feet quickly burrowed into the dirt, fastening her in place. Around the clearing, similar things were happening to the other female soldiers, and before long, three new alraune had been planted and began to grow.

"Beautiful, isn't it? My garden has grown once more."

Even if he could, Garret didn't feel like answering. He was demoralized from being forced to witness what he considered to be the deaths of more humans, and angered that he was helpless to do anything about it. When the alraune started to reel in the males to consummate their 'marriages', the youko released Garret, had him stand, and motioned for him to follow her as she led him to a more secluded part of the forest. Again, his body obeyed her commands and rejected his own.

Once they had gotten a little privacy, she began to strip Garret, pausing occasionally to admire or run a hand across his muscles.

"Mhmm, you're surprisingly muscular for a mage… I'm impressed. Every wizard I've met until now looked like they could barely lift a sword, but you… you look like you'd fit right in as a soldier."

When he was fully naked, the last thing she took was the crystal that hung around his neck.

"What's this? A spell focus?" She grinned and tossed it aside. "Well don't worry, I'll let you have it back once I'm done with you, but we can't have any enchantments getting in our way here, now can we~"

Then it was her turn to strip. While Garret stood there naked, she made a show of slowly undoing the ties holding up her dress, gyrating and twirling as she removed her chest bindings, and bending over to display her naked breasts as she slipped out of her loin cloth, occasionally brushing a tail against him as she did. The display was devastatingly erotic, eating away at Garret's willpower. Why should he try to escape when he could stay with this beautiful fox-woman and enjoy the pleasures she no doubt had in store…?

"I've been looking for a husband for quite some time, you know…" She slowly pushed Garret to the ground as she spoke. "But I wanted a spellcaster… not just any spellcaster, mind you, but someone strong of will and spirit. You saw the girl, yelling at you because she didn't understand what was happening. I could never be happy with someone who couldn't do the sort of things I can…"

She cuddled with him on the ground for a time, pressing her breasts against Garret's chest and occasionally stroking his face or running fingers through his hair.

"But I'd never found one with the willpower to cast when that much miasma was in the air… until you." She gave him a quick peck on the lips, before sitting up and preparing to mount him. "I think we'll have a wonderful life together, don't you?"

It didn't sound like he had much of a choice in the matter.

With a smile, the youko impaled herself on Garret's shaft, moaning as she pumped up and down in his lap. The exquisite pleasure, coupled with the immense amount of demonic energy her tails were scattering around and the lust enhancing effects of the alraune scent, soon brought Garret to his limit. An orgasm so powerful it made his vision flicker rocked through him as he shot his load deep within her. Immediately after, he felt a sudden rush as demonic energy from her flowed into him, replacing the spirit energy that had been released. It began to eat away at him, eroding his willpower and causing his spirit energy production to kick into overdrive as his erection grew once more. On top of him, his unwanted partner moaned as she came with him.

"Ooooh… oh yes… Yes, I made a very good choice…. You'll do nicely…"

She reached down and brought his hands up to cup her breasts, releasing just enough of the spell that bound him to allow him to grope and squeeze freely. As his hands passed through her wards, they tingled a bit but entered harmlessly. She leaned in close again for another kiss, and then released the part of the spell binding his head and mouth.

"Tell me your name, lover. I can't call you family if I don't even know your name."

This was his chance! Garret began to focus, trying to ignore the soft breasts in his hands or her folds wrapped around his manhood as he began to formulate a spell.

"Garret."

The youko smiled and nodded. "A nice name. I think we'll make a very good pair, Garret. My name is Izumi. I can't wait to see what a wizard will be able to do when we work together~"

She paused, likely waiting for a reply, but Garret was busy. He strained his mind, channeling every last bit of his willpower to try and command his magic.

"I'm… I'm not... I'm not…"

A bemused expression crossed Izumi's face as she watched Garret's brow furrow with concentration and sweat start to bead on his forehead.

"Are you trying to resist me, Garret? Come now, give it up. A wizard without his focus can't cast, so you won't be able to get away. Why don't you just accept your new life and relax? I can show you pleasures and magic you could never dream of…"

Suddenly, something clicked in his head and he felt the connection to his magic strengthen. He only had control for a brief moment, but that was all that was necessary.

"Because I'm… Not… A… Wizard!"

With a shout, a pair of flaming spears erupted from his hands. Izumi's face froze in shock as the spears pierced her breasts, her heart and lung, before exiting out of her back. The remainder of the spell controlling Garret's body immediately ceased and, with a mighty push, he shoved her off of him. The spears vanished as she fell and Garret's focus was lost once again, distracted by her movements, but the damage was done.

"No… How…" She choked out as she slumped to the ground, the light in her eyes fading. She was dead, and would threaten the people of this country no more...

… But it wasn't over yet! The alraune were still out there. Garret staggered to his feet and retrieved his robes and crystal. He quickly dressed himself and then began to run. He had to get out of here. He had to warn The Order! They were less of a threat without the youko guarding them, but six alraune were still a danger to the area... and he had to get purified. The youko's demonic energy had saturated him. He could feel it moving within him, eating away at his soul. As he ran, his thoughts kept wandering. Alraune were certainly beautiful and he and Rin had been partners briefly… maybe he should turn back and give himself to her… she would need a husband in her new form…

No! Stop it! Get out of my head! Garret ignited a hand and reached through his robes to press it against his chest. The burning sensation and pain helped him to focus and push those unwanted thoughts away. Even so, he didn't have long. He felt… strange… it was only a matter of time before he started to change. To save his soul, Garret ran like a bat out of hell back towards the city.

* * *

By the time the city walls were in sight, Garret was exhausted, his pace having drained every reserve of energy he had. His torture had been rewarded, however. His exertions meant that he had returned in record time, even if the final stretch was composed of him shuffling, stumbling and occasionally falling when his legs gave out. The gate guards spotted him quickly, being the only one travelling the road in the evening sun, and one ran out to help him. When he approached, Garret frantically waved the man away.

"Get away! Stay back!" The guard paused, confused, so he elaborated further. "I'm unclean! I need a priest. Quickly! I need to be purified before this taint does anything permanent to me!"

That got the message across. The guard nodded in understanding before hurrying back to his post. He spoke briefly with his comrade there, who leveled a crossbow at Garret in case he tried to run, then disappeared into the City. Garret raised his hands, then collapsed to the ground to rest and pray that he had made it in time. He wasn't going anywhere.

The guard returned a couple minutes later with a pair of priests in tow, who began to examine him and perform the rites of cleansing.

"Don't worry, Mr. Fax, you're in bad shape but we've saved people in worse conditions before."

Garret weakly nodded as he let the men do their work and their holy light wash over him. Gradually the darkness and lust burning within him began to recede.

* * *

The purification ritual took about an hour as the priests tried to safely expunge the demonic energy corrupting his body. Then, he was guided to some of The Order's officers to make his report about the mission and, as its sole survivor, explain how he had managed to escape while the others did not. Though they had the tact to not ask it outright, Garret couldn't help but feel like they were trying to determine if he had truly escaped, had betrayed the group, or if he simply fled out of cowardice while the battle was still ongoing. After learning what they could, they dismissed him and began planning another mission to slay the remaining alraune – this time, with many more men.

* * *

Garret trudged back to the barracks slowly. Now that he was safe and wasn't fighting for his life, several unpleasant thoughts started to surface. Rin screaming at him, the helplessness of the soldiers as they were dragged to their fates, the blank look on a woman's face after she had been transformed and planted… He kept trying to convince himself he was fine. This was war, people died and there was no avoiding it. There was nothing he could have done, so he shouldn't be feeling guilty, but even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that if he had been stronger or faster everyone might have made it out alive.

* * *

Annika was waiting outside the barracks when he arrived. Apparently, she'd recovered from her hangover and was passing the time by watching the goings on in the training field.

"Hey Annika. How are you feeling?" A smile of relief lit up on her face when she saw that he had returned unharmed.

"Much better, thank you. How was your mission?"

By some miracle, Garret managed to keep a straight face when she asked that. "Fine. It went fine." Talking about that was the last thing he wanted to do right now…

Fortunately Annika seemed pleased and didn't press him for details. "Time to eat, then?"

He nodded, and the two began to make their way to the mess tents, arm in arm.

Half way there, Annika noticed that his behavior was more distant than normal. He wasn't teasing or chatting as lively as he had been in the morning.

"Are ya alright, Garret? Something wrong?"

He nodded and brushed off her question. He didn't need or want her worrying about him.

"Yeah… I'm fine." Annika didn't seem to even slightly believe that, so he elaborated on his lie. "Really, I'm just tired. I'll feel better tomorrow. Just used a little too much energy on that patrol. I'm fine,… I'm fine."

Maybe if he said that enough it would eventually become true…

* * *

 **Author's note:** Ok so that wasn't 'early april'… I give up haha. There's no way I'll be able to keep a reliable schedule with all these shifting school projects popping up at random, updates will come as they may. I've still got plans for where I want to take this story, though, it's just a matter of having the time to sit down and write. Now! On to my random musings about the chapter.

\- I like the idea of magical wards being like… a shell or something. A forcefield surrounding the mage, deflecting spells and swords, but if you manage to somehow get past it, the caster is defenseless. This interpretation still lets people have some sort of 'armour' against spells, while getting rid of the whole 'I SHOVED MY HAND AGAINST YOUR FACE AND CAUSED IT TO EXPLODE, WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD?!' problem you get if a ward just means spells don't affect you. It helps things make a bit more physical sense (well, as much physics as you can apply to _magic_ ).

\- The behavior of Izumi the youko was really fun to write for. I looked up the monster's disposition in the MGE and saw 'egotistical' under it, which lends itself way too well to the whole magical femdom thing. As a fan of both magical femdom and fox girls, I probably would have been hers the minute she whispered, "It's ok to stay like this". Fortunately, Garret is not me, otherwise we would have reached a rather abrupt conclusion this chapter. … Though I am sort of curious what kind of life he would have lived if he had taken her up on her offer and become her husband. If I get a sudden abundance of spare time, maybe I'll write a spinoff chapter or something exploring this in an 'alternate timeline'. That might be fun, let me know what y'all think!

\- The problem with most monsters in the MGE is that they are explicitly labeled as being irresistible because of their beauty, pheromones, demonic energy, etc. This is… not good when you want a character to survive more than a single encounter with them. I didn't want to make Garret some sort of overpowered hero with titanic willpower, so I was inspired by one of my friends who is nearly immune to anesthetic and painkillers. They barely affect him at all, and likewise, most of their side effects also don't affect him. That got me thinking that, if a person could have a resistance to that in our world, it would make sense that someone like that would exist in the world of the MGE. In this case, I decided to give Garret the inexplicable resistance (but not immunity) to poisons, which covers alcohol, spoiled food, and even monster girl toxins/pheromones. It seemed like the best way to give him an edge and explain why he could fight and escape monster girls with more success than his peers without making him too powerful.

Once again, all reviews, messages, views, etc. are greatly appreciated. I'm glad so many people are enjoying my fanfic.

Until next time, Sayonara!


	5. Day 7 - Blank

**Day 7 / Blank**

Garret's sleep that night was anything but restful; it was constantly disturbed by nightmares or intrusive thoughts. Occasionally one would startle him into consciousness, causing him to shudder and wake the woman sleeping in his arms.

"Garret? Is something wrong?"

He hugged her tightly for a moment, then shifted and tried to get comfortable again.

"No, just a nightmare… Sorry for waking you."

"S'alright…" She yawned and scooched herself a little closer to him. Soon, she was snoring away again.

The second time that happened, Annika knew something was wrong. It wasn't like Garret to get nightmares, but he refused to talk about it when she asked. The third time, she turned around and pulled him into her embrace, letting him rest his head against her chest.

"It's alright, Garret… You're…" She yawned and rested her head against the top of his. "You're gonna be alright…" She held him like this until he managed to fall back to sleep. At least she was here. When they were close like this, he felt like everything was going to be ok.

* * *

"Thanks for that, Annika."

"Hmm?"

"For last night… It really helped."

Annika looked up from the half-laced boot she was working on and smiled.

"No problem, Garret. Gotta make sure my partner gets his beauty sleep, after all. We can't have you passing out in combat again." She paused and cocked her head to the side, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Though if something is bothering you, you know you can always talk to me, right? We've been working together long enough, there's no shame in it."

Garret, who was already dressed and waiting on his partner, shook his head.

"It's fine. Just some bad dreams…" Suddenly he felt self-conscious as she gazed at him, causing him to look at the floor. "Thank you for saying that, though. It means a lot."

"No problem!"

Annika's cheerful mood this morning was infectious, and even without saying anything, just being around her helped Garret's mental state immensely. When she finished lacing up her last boot, she clapped her hands together to signal her readiness.

"So. Breakfast?"

"Breakfast."

* * *

Another sunny day, another big helping of eggs and meat, another peaceful breakfast by the fountain. Having either been fighting or unconscious for six of the last seven days, Garret was really starting to appreciate the little bits of downtime like these. Half way through their meal, they heard someone whistle a catchy little tune. When they looked up to determine the source of the sound, they saw Eric and Aisha heading towards their table with their own trays of food.

"Mornin', Eric! Mornin', Aisha!"

Annika waved to them as they approached.

"Morning, guys."

"Good Morning~"

Noticing that, unlike her and Garret, Eric and Aisha were both armed, Annika commented on their appearance.

"Ya look like you're about to take on the world. Got a mission for today?"

Eric nodded as he sat down and replied between bites of egg.

"Yeah, an officer dropped by last night to gather people for an operation. Something about needing to exterminate a few plant mamono."

"Mhmm~ They gathered thirty men to fight again and kill the plants that put you in a trance."

Garret smiled as he scooped another portion of eggs into his mouth. That was good to hear. Thirty men seemed like overkill for six alraune, but he was glad they were taking it seriously. At least this number basically guaranteed their success, so they wouldn't end up like… like Rin… Tortured and changed, reduced to a shell of themselves, killed mentally and spiritually but not physically, their bodies desecra-

"Garret? You alright, man? You've got a really dark look on your face."

Shit, that was careless of him. He looked up, smiled and waved their concerns away.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just be careful, eh? And good luck."

He wanted to add 'and make sure you kill them all', but that seemed a little too obvious. The group's meal continued in silence until Aisha spoke.

"Has anyone seen Catherine of late? I haven't seen her since our…" She paused as she tried to think of a rhyme, before shrugging and speaking normally. "I haven't seen her since we carried her home."

Apparently neither Eric, nor Annika had, because they shook their heads or replied with "No".

"I saw her when I was getting water yesterday, but she seemed flustered. Maybe she's got something going on?"

Aisha looked thoughtful at this, before shrugging. "She shouldn't… I don't think the Mage's guild has handed down any assignments recently, and she usually eats with us anyways. Maybe she's busy with a personal project?"

"Maybe… I need to return the crystal she lent me anyways, so Annika and I could check up on her today."

Eric nodded and flashed a thumbs up. "Sounds good. Let us know what happened when we get back, alright?"

"Sure."

They chatted for a while longer about various, more pleasant topics, as they waited for Eric and Aisha to finish their meals. Once done, they wished them luck on their mission and parted ways. They'd need to get to their rally point, and Garret and Annika had a certain wizard to check up on.

* * *

"It was strange how flustered she was, though… And we'd drank so much, I don't think she'd have been in any state to work on a personal project." Garret mused as they walked to Catherine's house.

"Maybe she was still tipsy." Annika giggled, remembering the scene. "She drank more than any of us."

"A day later? That seems…" Garret was about to say 'unlikely' but remembered exactly how drunk she had been that night. "Actually, that might be the reason."

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination and Garret approached the door to knock. Immediately, things felt off… when he rapped his knuckles against the old wooden door, it swung open slightly, like it hadn't been properly latched.

"Catherine? Are you home?"

This might not have been considered socially acceptable, and in truth, what he did next made him feel a bit like a school kid trying to sneak out of class, but he cracked the door open and slowly crept inside.

The small interior was even messier than what he remembered… Before, there were piles of books and trinkets everywhere, and now… well, there were still piles of books and trinkets, but many of them had been knocked over and were scattered across the floor. Signs of a struggle? … No, it looked like they had been disturbed by someone while drunk or similarly disoriented.

"Garret, what are you doing? Don't go snooping through her stuff."

He shushed her as he moved on to the next room. She was right, there was no reason for him to do this, but… everything felt wrong here. Catherine's previous actions might have been because she was drunk, but maybe something else was going on… or maybe his paranoid was getting the better of him.

As he approached the kitchen, he heard a dripping sound, which caused him to pause and listen.

"Catherine?"

No response.

When he walked through the doorway, he saw the source of the noise: a bucket that had been knocked over was slowly dripping its remaining water into a puddle on the floor. That wasn't the only thing amiss in this room… there were about a dozen other buckets in here, littering every possible surface; all kit for food preparation had been pushed aside to make room for them. Some of them were full of water, but most were empty, and the entire area was damp, like spills had not been an uncommon occurrence in the past day here. The scene caused Garret to raise an eyebrow, before heading to the stairs.

"Someone must have been thirsty…"

Seeing he hadn't been stopped by her protestations, Annika had apparently given up and decided to join him. While she was looking around in the kitchen and common room, Garret ascended the stairs to what he assumed would be Catherine's bedroom.

"Catherine? Are you home?"

He gently knocked on her bedroom door before easing it open with a loud creak. The inside was in a similar state to the rest of the house, damp and messy. The bed was particularly affected, with the sheets having been tossed off of it, into the corner, and a very obvious wet patch present in its center. The only thing of interest was her desk, propped against the wall with a spilled inkwell and quill laying next to an open journal. Out of curiosity, he picked it up and took a glance over the sloppy, rushed handwriting. There was only a single, short entry for today, but it was written largely enough that it covered both pages. What it said caused Garret to immediately snap the book shut and sprint down the stairs.

 _"It won't stop. I have to lock myself in the basement. The wards will …"_ A sudden scribble, like a mild earthquake had hit, marked the end of the entry dated for this morning.

"Woah there, Garret, what's wrong?"

His sudden arrival, and near collision with her, startled Annika, but there was no time for apologies. He scrambled to the door that lead to the basement staircase and yanked on the handle. Locked. To break the door, he threw a roaring fireball at it, but it stopped an inch or two away from the wood and sputtered out of existence. _"And don't worry about scorching the floor. The whole house is warded against fire."_ Damn it, Catherine…

"Garret! What's going on?!"

This door didn't seem too sturdy, they could break it!

"Help me with this door, Annika! She's in the basement!" Garret pressed himself against the wood and tried to push, but was pulled away by his partner.

"Not until you tell me what's happening!"

He wordlessly pulled out the journal, opened it to the latest page and handed it to Annika. She read it, then flipped to the previous page and read a bit more. Apparently what had been written there was even worse, because the colour began to drain from her face. She quickly handed it back to him with a nod.

"On three."

They counted it out, then rammed their shoulders into the door. It gave a little but remained standing.

"Again!"

They repeated the process twice more, the door shifting a little each time. On the third attempt, with a splintering crack, the lock holding the door shut broke, allowing the door to swing open and sending Garret and Annika tumbling down the stairs. They landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom, thankfully without injuries, but as Garret staggered to his feet and pulled Annika to hers, what he saw sent a chill down his spine. The air was thick with demonic energy, and loud moans (previously muffled by the wards) bounced around the room. In the corner sat the person they were looking for. A naked, and much more youthful looking Catherine lay there, eyes closed, in a mound of pink slime that engulfed her legs and lower body. The moans were coming from her as the slime slowly thrusted its tentacles between her legs or traced across her breasts.

"Catherine! Annika, get a priest, quick!"

His partner nodded and ran back up the stairs as Garret approached the woman, a conjured flame burning in his hand.

"G… Garret…" Her eyes flicked open for a moment as she heard him call her, then closed again as the slime intensified its motions.

"K… K…"

"Hold on! I'm gonna get you out of there!"

He had to be careful about hitting her, but if he cut slices of the slime, maybe he could boil enough away to pull her free safely… He extended the flame from his hand into a long, blazing blade, then brought it down on the slime, carving away a portion beside her left leg. When it touched the goo, though, Catherine spasmed and shrieked in pain.

"You're fine! I didn't hit you!"

The slime must be doing something to her… Garret quickly cut a second piece off of it, causing another shriek. He was about to make a third cut, when the remaining slime suddenly retreated, disappearing between her legs and… into her body? He took a step back, completely befuddled.

"What the hell…"

Catherine seemed more alert now, the pain likely bringing her to her senses, and she curled into a ball, pushing herself against the wall, trying to get as far away from Garret as possible.

"P-Please! No more…. No more…"

"Catherine…"

The poor woman had already begun to show the effects of being exposed to demonic energy. The few wrinkles and skin blemishes she had had disappeared. It was making her more beautiful, younger looking, preparing for her inevitable transformation into a monster… but she wasn't a slime yet! There was still hope, so long as Annika could find a priest quickly.

"Garret… Please… Kill me…"

Catherine briefly opened her eyes and had just enough lucidity to say that, before closing them and moaning again, her fingers reaching towards her nether regions.

"Help me, Garret. It feels so good! It feels so good! So good, so good, so good…"

She trembled as she came again, either from her own finger work or the slime's motions inside of her.

"Hold on, Catherine! Annika will be back with a priest; we can still save you!"

She smiled as she played with herself, before slowly standing herself up.

"No… No, no, no, no… Garret, I want you, I want you, I want you, I want you…"

She took a step forward. Garret took a step back. She kept walking. He backed himself up against a wall.

"Garret, Garret, Garret, Garret..."

He knew exactly where this was going. When she got within arm's reach, he lunged forward and rammed her with his shoulder, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Stay back, Catherine! We're going to help you, but I can't let you touch me!"

Her behavior… she wasn't a monster yet but was already acting like one. Were they too late? The woman writhed on the ground, moaning and seemingly having difficulty picking herself back up. Slowly, the slime he had seen previously oozed out from between her legs and began to fondle her again. She stayed like this for a few minutes, but eventually stood up and tried to approach Garret for a second time. This time he waved a flaming hand in front of her, which caused her to quickly retreat back into her corner. The fire seemed to scare her, so he used that to keep her contained until Annika arrived with a priest in tow.

"Garret! We're here!"

The older man descended the stairs and looked upon Catherine with a mixture of pity and sadness. Annika was about to follow, but he commanded her to stay put, no doubt to limit her exposure to the demonic energy. He approached Garret and raised a hand in greeting.

"Good morning, Garret, I'm Father Sullivan. You found that woman like this this morning?"

The man spoke in a serious, low voice, as he looked over Catherine. Garret nodded in confirmation when he asked his question.

"Yes, not even an hour ago."

"Then maybe there's still hope…"

He grasped the holy symbol on his rosary and approached Catherine. She moaned again as the slime moved within her, then tried to reach for the priest once he was close enough. She never made it, though. Her moans turned into screams, and she collapsed to the ground as the crucifix he was holding flashed with divine energy, shining its holy light on her. Where the light touched the slime, it burst into brilliant, white flames and was burned away, but the majority of it managed to retreat inside of her just like when Garret attacked it.

"I see…"

The priest made his remark in a grim tone before channeling his power again. Even with no slime present, it still caused Catherine scream and spasm with pain.

"Do you know what this is, Garret?"

"Some kind of slime, Father?"

"Yes… but not the usual types you would encounter in the wild. This one is a slime parasite. They're rare, usually only found deep underground or around other powerful monsters."

"K… Kill me…"

Garret nodded but didn't understand. Why was he being told this?

"Does it make a difference? A slime is a slime, right?"

Father Sullivan shook his head sadly, then delivered a kick to Catherine's thigh, causing her to groan. The skin wobbled and flowed, like he had just booted an overfull waterskin.

"They infiltrate a host's body and slowly convert it into slime from the inside out, leaving only the skin intact. I'm told the feeling is quite pleasant, but the end result is always the same. There's no saving her. The infestation is in its final stages."

"Wha…" Garret looked down at Catherine, disbelief written plainly across his face. He had never seen anything like this before…

"But… she was talking… She knew me."

Father Sullivan nodded sadly and gestured to her head.

"The brain and spine are the last things to go. She might hold on to her thoughts for… another day? Maybe? But eventually that will be consumed as well. The only thing we can do for her is to-"

"-kill her before she loses who she is."

He finished the priest's sentence for him, and the man nodded in affirmation.

"I can burn her away with holy magic, but that will take time. It would be agonizing. Your partner said you were a flame sorcerer, maybe you could end it quicker?"

A numbness crept across Garret's mind. He still wasn't quite believing what was happening, but stepped forward anyways, a hand alight. The pain from the priest's light seemed to have brought Catherine back to reality for a moment – a small mercy that allowed them to exchange a few words. Her eyes were unfocused and she could barely move, but Catherine managed to slightly tilt her head his way.

"Please… While I'm… Still me…"

"I'm so sorry, Catherine. I-I'm so fucking sorry..."

He blinked, trying to clear the mist that was accumulating before his eyes, as he conjured a spear and prepared himself. A slight smile played at the edge of Catherine's lips when she saw that.

"I said… Call me… Cathy…"

The words caused Garret to snort, then wipe away the tears that began to roll down his cheek. The last thing he had expected was for her to say something like _that_.

"Sure thing, Cathy."

With that, he sent the spear flying, embedding it in her head. He immediately detonated it with a fiery explosion.

When the smoke cleared, there was almost nothing left of the poor girl. True to Father Sullivan's word, there was almost no blood in the splatter, just slime and skin.

"She was a friend of yours?"

Garret shook his head as the priest laid a hand on his shoulder. How could he call someone he'd only known for a few days a 'friend'?

"No… but she could have been."

* * *

The priest confined Garret and Annika to the upstairs of the house while he purified the basement. They sat on the bed, holding each other while they waited for him to finish. Annika had wrapped her arms around him tightly and was loudly sobbing into his shoulder. The death of the woman who comforted her when her partner's life was in danger had no doubt hit her harder than Garret. He had cried when casting the spell that killed her, but now… now he didn't feel anything. Was that because he had only known her for a few days? Or was that because he was getting used to seeing people die in front of him? Maybe he was just in shock… and maybe that was a blessing. Either way, he tried not to think too hard about it, focusing his attention on the woman he could help. He held Annika in his arms and did his best to comfort her as she cried. Eventually Father Sullivan came to them, performed a quick rite of cleansing, and offered to walk them somewhere quiet – an offer Garret appreciated and accepted. They needed some time to themselves.

During their walk through the city, Annika was a complete wreck. Garret didn't think she let go of him for a minute during it, nor did she stop crying. Fortunately, Father Sullivan knew all sorts of secluded, back alley paths that kept them away from other people, so they didn't attract stares as they walked. Eventually, they reached their destination – an isolated spot amongst the rocks where the city met the sea. The washing of the waves against the shore was calming, and the calling of the gulls overhead provided a welcome distraction from their grief. Of course he knew a good spot for this, the old priest had probably helped dozens of other soldiers through similar times.

"Thank you."

Father Sullivan nodded, but stayed right where he was, being there for them as they dealt with their grief and occasionally offering words of consolation. When Annika eventually managed to calm herself and her sobbing began to subside, he walked over to them, laid a hand on both of their shoulders and bowed his head, whispering a prayer. When he finished, he crouched beside them.

"I'll be needed at the temple soon. Will you two be alright?"

Garret looked to Annika, who dried her eyes, then nodded. He had stayed with them at the beach for a couple hours at least, they should let him go.

"We'll be fine. Thank you, Father."

Father Sullivan looked them over somberly, likely wondering if they actually would be.

"If you ever need council, you can always talk to the priests of the church, either myself or one of the others. I would strongly suggest that you do so. You don't have to struggle through this alone."

With that final remark, he placed his hand over his holy symbol and bade them farewell.

"May the Goddess watch over you."

* * *

Garret and Annika stayed on the shore for a while longer before they eventually decided to depart. Slowly they walked through the streets in silence, supporting each other physically but trying to stand on their own mentally – if only for a short while. Garret looked to the crowd around him, thinking of it as a kind of motivation and encouragement to continue on. Catherine had died, but he had to stay strong and keep fighting. Everyone did. If not, the usually peaceful lives of the civilians here would come to an end and then hundreds more would have to experience the same grief that he and his partner were going through. Annika was… well, he couldn't read her mind, but she seemed to be thinking something similar, judging by the way she looked over the crowd, the children playing in an alley, and the houses around them.

The next few hours were a blur of unpleasant emotions. They returned to the barracks and Annika immediately collapsed onto the bed, staring at the floor. Garret tried to comfort her, but she brushed him away. Maybe she was trying to be strong for him like he had been trying to do for her, or maybe she found it easier to deal with things on her own. To find his own form of closure, Garret began to read Catherine's journal, wanting to figure out where everything went wrong. The majority of the book's pages contained private details about her life and personal thoughts – pages he skipped over out of respect for her privacy, and to protect himself. If he got to know her better through the journal, that might shock him out of this numb feeling that was stopping him from breaking down and crying again. The page for the day of their operation was blank, save for a short note from the morning mentioning her departure. Made sense… she probably was too drunk to write anything that evening. The next morning's entry noted her increased thirst and discoordination, which she attributed to a hangover. An entry for the afternoon mentioned how her thirst had not subsided and that she was drinking water by the bucket to try and quench it. It also detailed how she had begun to feel strange, lustful urges for the men in the city, the unusual fantasies described in a disturbing level of detail.

In her evening entry, she figured out what was going on, her theory soon confirmed by the emergence of slime from within her. The writing from this point on became increasingly frantic. She identified the slime type almost immediately, but concluded that she was already doomed, at least when it came to how much the priests could heal. She hypothesized that she must have been 'infested' during the fight against the slime queen, and that the fatigue from marching and influence of alcohol had allowed it to persist unnoticed until it was too late. Garret suddenly remembered the small slime he had killed that was trying to get into Annika's boot. That must have been one of them… He immediately broke out into a cold sweat, realizing just how close she had come to a similar fate.

The next few entries were written in the form of a research log, with her trying to use her energy manipulation spells to isolate, destroy or hinder the demonic energy as it slowly filled her body and transformed her internal organs into more slime. Apparently she worked through the night without sleep in a desperate bid to save herself… that explained the mess everything was in… Experiment after experiment was scratched out, having either failed or worked too slowly to be effective, and the quality of her writing got worse and worse as the notes went on. Eventually, he came to the final pages that lead him to find her in the basement…

"Catherine…"

The mystery solved, Garret closed the book and tucked it into his foot locker for safe keeping.

* * *

Dinner was a somber affair. Neither Annika nor Garret were in the mood for eating and pushed the food around their plates more than anything else. Eric and Aisha showed up at one point, talking cheerfully, in high spirits from the apparent success of their mission. That was soon dampened, though, when they saw the expressions on Garret and Annika's faces. The gloomy mood told them all they needed to know about the result of their investigation into Catherine's disappearance. Garret directed them to the priest if they wanted to find out more, and the two quickly took their leave.

* * *

When they returned to the barracks, they found a set of orders pinned to their door. Apparently they, and the rest of the soldiers, were to take the week off to relax. The reason for this was written at the bottom: A crusade was about to begin. Fuck… Garret took the orders and tossed them onto his locker. He'd deal with them another time.

It wasn't particularly late, but the day's events had left the two of them totally drained. They quickly stripped and climbed into bed. Once they did, Annika immediately pulled Garret into a tight hug, a gesture he was all too willing to reciprocate. Locked together like this and unwilling to let each other go, Garret finally broke down. The realization of how close he had come to losing her shattered the numbness protecting him, and he cried himself to sleep. If he lost the person who had been with him the longest, he didn't know what he would do…

"Goddamn it…"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I managed to squeeze in a lot more writing than I had hoped this week! Don't be expecting me to keep up this tempo, though, that was a lot of work brought about by a strange absence of school assignments.

I don't really have much to say for this chapter. It was hard to write since I'm not used to doing long stories dealing with grief, but I think it turned out ok. One of the problems I had was trying to figure out how Catherine's death would impact Garret, since he had only known her for like... 3 days? A friend suggested that I tackle it from the angle of 'mourning what could have been' which seemed more fitting. If you ever read this, Daemon, thanks for the tip.

I actually foreshadowed this chapter with a bit of symbolism, even before Catherine began to behave strangely. I wonder if anyone caught that~ That's also a general rule for me, if I spend a paragraph describing something that doesn't seem plot critical, it might be a represention something that'll come up in the future.

Anyways, that's all I got. Again, thank you all for the views, favourites, follows, etc. I love seeing those numbers creep up. If you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions, I would encourage you to post a review, no matter how short. I appreciate them all and would love to hear more people's thoughts on my story.

Until next time, Sayonara!


	6. Day 15 - Commencement

**Day 15 / Commencement**

"I'm sure Catherine is looking down on you as we speak. She lived a righteous life and fought until the very end, there is no doubt in my mind that she was not welcomed into heaven."

Father Sullivan laid a hand on Garret's shoulder.

"But you, my son, need to keep moving on. She would not want grief over her to shackle you."

"I know… Thank you again, Father. I appreciate your time."

"You are more than welcome, Garret. If ever you wish, you may visit us any time."

The priest said a quick prayer for him before allowing him to leave. Outside the cell, Annika was leaning against a wall, waiting for him. She must have finished her talk with one of the church's sisters faster than usual. Normally he'd be the one waiting for her.

"All finished, Garret?"

"Yeah… Lets go."

Aside from the priests and priestesses, the cathedral was deserted, and their steps echoed around the silent interior as the two walked towards the entrance, hand in hand.

"Are ya feeling any better, Garret?"

Her concern caused him to smile, and he pulled her into a quick hug.

"Now I am. What about you? I should have been the one to ask that question."

"Better now than last week."

"That's good…"

In truth, Garret didn't know how much of his 'recovery' was due to talking with Father Sullivan versus his own will. Annika and he had met with the priests every day for the past week at the Father's suggestion, and it seemed to help a bit, but… well, it was such a gradual thing, he wasn't really sure. At least the priest gave good advice. During their first meetings, he just let Garret talk, vent and express his grief, offering words of consolation and comfort. Towards the end of the week, though, when the pain wasn't as fresh, he began to speak more philosophically about what happens after death, how it shouldn't be seen as 'the end', but as the closing of a single chapter in a soul's story. That part probably helped Garret more than any kind words could have. Sure, he believed in the chief goddess and her perfect heaven, but having those beliefs affirmed by the priest… it did a lot to help put him at peace. As Garret mused over this, he couldn't help but think maybe his initial assessment was a little unfair. Meeting with the priests had helped a lot.

Outside the church, the city was abuzz with activity. Soldiers were hustling everywhere, cartloads of equipment were being hauled around, and a very busy corps of officers were directing the whole operation. With the Crusade departing tomorrow, everyone was hurrying to get last minute preparations done.

"We've gotta finish our packing."

Garret nodded in agreement as they walked through the crowds.

"Need to get our assignment too and find out where we'll be stationed. Maybe we'll work with Eric and Aisha again."

"Hopefully!"

After what had happened with Catherine, if he was going to be fighting, Garret wanted it to be alongside the few friends he had.

* * *

"Think we'll need a lantern?"

"Annika, I'm a walking torch."

"But what if I have to stand guard without you?"

"I think you'll be able to borrow one. We might have to carry all of this on our backs, you know, I don't want to cart around extra weight."

"Fiiine…"

Mess kits, soap, spare sets of clothes and a kit for armour maintenance all went into their packs. Being part of a proper army meant they had a bit of a luxury when it came to leaving things behind. They didn't need rope or a crowbar like most adventurers would, for example, the supply carts would have those to spare. Basic wilderness survival stuff like knives, a compass and tinderbox probably weren't needed either, but Garret insisted in case they got separated from the main column, his paranoia forcing them to pack at least a little more than what was needed.

"… A hatchet?"

Garret thought for a moment. He didn't need one, he could probably sever tree branches with a spell for roughly the same expenditure of energy.

"I don't need it, but you might? Bring it if you want, I guess."

He threw a small sewing pouch into his own pack so that he could mend his robes on the road. With that, though… he couldn't really think of anything else. He strapped his bedroll to the top of his pack, buckled down the rest of it, then clipped a few waterskins to the side. That should be everything.

* * *

Lunch was… lunch. The mess tent and its accompanying tables were packed, even more so than usual, so it took them a while to find a place. They eventually spotted one near the fountain and sat down, barely noticing that its damaged center piece had been removed. Slowly picking away at their meals, they ate in silence until someone called out to them.

"Hey guys. How're you doing?"

Eric's appearance was not echoed by Aisha's usual sing-song greeting, though she was with him. The melancholy that hung over Annika and Garret seemed to be affecting them too.

"We're ok. How about you two?"

"We're holding up. It's just going to take a bit of time, that's all."

Eating together like this raised the group's spirits a bit, though Garret couldn't help but keep coming back to the unpleasant thought that they used to have one more among their number. _"Come on, Garret… you can't keep thinking like that. Got to let it go and keep moving forward."_

"Are you two coming to the church service tonight?"

Annika nodded at Aisha's question, but Garret was left perplexed.

"Yeah, we should."

"… There's a church service tonight?"

"Mhmm."

Aisha slid a note onto the table, apparently an announcement that Garret had either not received or forgotten about.

"They're doing prayers and a sermon for the crusaders about to depart. You should definitely come! There's even going to be a hero there!"

"A hero?!" Upon hearing this, Annika immediately leaned forward, grasping Aisha by the shoulders, begging her to tell her everything she knew, before turning to Garret.

"Garret, you're not getting out of this, we're going to the service."

The display of enthusiasm brought a smile to both his and Eric's faces. It wasn't difficult to understand where this sudden interest had come from. The heroes, holy warriors personally blessed by the goddess, had been elevated to celebrity status amongst the rank and file of The Order's armies. Rumors about them abounded, that they could slice a monster in two with a single blow, that their wills were nigh incorruptible, and that no magic or weapon could harm them. Garret doubted the truth of many of them, but he at least accepted that they must be formidable soldiers. Regardless, they were rare and only appeared in times of great conflict. It wasn't uncommon for a soldier to go his entire life without seeing one in the flesh, so when given the opportunity, one had to leap at it.

"Well I guess that answers that… Yes, Aisha, we will be going to the service." Hero or not, the distraction would still be welcome.

As Annika interrogated Aisha for all the juicy details, Eric and Garret concentrated on their food. Eventually, though, Eric looked up and broke the silence.

"So how are you feeling, man? Have you been sleeping?"

He nodded in reply. "Yeah, got plenty of sleep and managed to refill my energy crystal. I'm fine, why?"

Eric shrugged. "Aisha had a hard time of it last week."

"I suppose she would have… but I'm fine. So is Annika."

"Good. Glad to hear it." He took another bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully for a moment. "We've got a few hours to kill before the service. Want to practice your swordsmanship?"

Garret smiled at the suggestion, remembering with fondness the fight they had. Who knows, maybe the practice would come in handy on the crusade. "Sure, I'd love to."

After they finished eating, Eric informed the girls about the plan. Aisha said she hadn't finished packing yet, but Annika volunteered to come as well. The next few hours were a blur of swords and shields as the gang focused on refining their techniques or, in Garret's case, just learning the basics.

* * *

The cathedral was abuzz with excitement as the hour of the service drew near. Whispering questions echoed around the stone hall as the assembled soldiers chatted among each other.

"Who do you think it is?"

"Do you think he's cute?"

"Is he even a guy? Maybe it's a woman!"

"I wonder what they fight with."

By some miracle, Garret and co. had managed to nab a set of seats reasonably close to the front where they could clearly see the empty stage and pulpit. Beside him, Annika and Aisha were gossiping like a pair of schoolgirls – something amusingly out of character for the first. Beyond that sat a smiling Eric, no doubt happy that his partner was happy. Garret himself sat there in silence and quiet contemplation. The spectacle of having a hero lead the church service was a welcome distraction, but he couldn't stop wondering if there was a more sinister purpose behind it. Not every crusade was preceded by an event like this. Did the officers organize it because it was convenient this time, or because they anticipated high casualties and wanted to boost moral? His thoughts started to drift back to Rin and Catherine, and he bowed his head for a quick prayer.

The service began an hour later with a priest stepping on stage, welcoming everyone and leading an opening prayer. Throughout this, the hair on the back of Garret's neck slowly rose and he felt a slight charge in the air – ominous, powerful and increasing by the minute.

"… Amen." Upon finishing, the priest stepped forward, opened his arms and looked towards the massive, stained glass crucifix on the cathedral's roof. "My brothers and sisters, soldiers of The Order! Your devotion in this dark time for humanity has not gone unnoticed, and your struggles are not in vain! The Chief God has heard your plight and has blessed your crusade with a hero! Tonight, we welcome Lukas and Brynhild Strom amongst our number."

At the end of his speech, a light sparked into existence, floating a few feet below the cross on the ceiling. Flecks of divine light splintered off from it, showering the congregation below before it exploded into a portal. From it, a young man, supported by a winged woman fell into the air. They flew around the cathedral's interior once, the spectacle causing cheers to erupt from the audience, before landing just behind the pulpit.

Annika let out an impressed whistle. "They sure know how to make an entranc-Woah, are you alright, Garret?"

The majority of the audience kept cheering and applauding the hero, but the aura of sheer power literally knocked the breath out of the more magically sensitive people when the pair entered. To Garret, it felt like he had just been plunged into a lake of ice-water, the power and energy causing him to go weak in the knees and hunch over as his body adjusted to it. When he felt strong enough to straighten up, he saw that most of the other mages or clerics in the audience had been similarly affected. So this was the true power of a hero…

"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured his concerned partner, though his breath was still short from the shock. "Just overwhelmed, that's all." He brushed the hand she had laid on his shoulder off of him, then took it in his own.

In front of the audience, Lukas and Brynhild bowed in thanks to the priest, then walked to the podium and waved, bringing forth a renewed round of cheers. Lukas himself wasn't too remarkable – well, remarkable for what a hero was supposed to be. His armour shone with divine radiance, his sword thrummed with energy, and when he began to speak, his voice was powerful. Impressive, yes, but every legend spoke of these traits, so though he admired them, the only thing that struck Garret as odd was how young the man was. He looked to be only a few years older than him, not the gruff, almost-middle-aged man he had for some reason been expecting. Brynhild was much more interesting, and not just because she was a beautiful woman. Wings, feathered hair, a divine radiance that shone seemingly from within her, and the otherworldly craftsmanship of her golden spear and shield betrayed her as being something more than human – a Valkyrie.

A Valkyrie paired with a hero… Suddenly Garret felt his worries disappear. A hero was a powerful force against the monsters, but if he was paired with one of heaven's warriors, they might well be unstoppable. This feeling of invincibility was further stoked by Lukas' preaching. While most priests tried to instill good morals within the population and encourage people to further their devotion with God, Lukas' sermon was one of fire and brimstone. He condemned the monsters for their evil, hedonistic lifestyle – a lifestyle he claimed was only possible because they built their society on the remains of the towns they had conquered! A lifestyle that stripped their partners of freewill and self-determination! A lifestyle that physically, magically and spiritually corrupted the surrounding areas to such an extent that the land itself could change people! He told personal anecdotes of men being captured and changed – pious soldiers whose minds were broken by the monster's corrupting influences. He spoke of women unlucky enough to be fully aware as they watched their body morph and change into something obscene, and of children who hadn't even had a chance to live a normal life before it was stolen away.

His speech definitely had magic woven into it. The emotions it elicited were beyond what base demagoguery could do and everyone found themselves motivated by a cold, calculated rage, utterly convinced that there was no other solution to the problem of the monsters than to kill, kill, kill. Well, seemingly everyone. Hearing the hero describe losing people in the exact same method he had lost Rin and Catherine put an unpleasant damper on Garret's mood, despite what the magic was trying to do.

Once he had finished, Lukas bowed to thunderous applause and let Brynhild step forward. She in turn gave her own speech, though this one was more somber. She spoke of the horrors of war and did little to mask the truth that many of them would inevitably be lost, either in this crusade or the next. What she did do, though, was speak of how their sacrifices protected thousands and how every mission bought their country and fellow citizens a bit more time to live a normal life and held off the subjugation of humanity a little longer. She preached that offering one's self for such a noble cause would grant them great rewards in heaven, and how Chief God would ensure that if they fell, each and everyone one of their deaths would have meaning. Everyone around him nodded along, even Annika to his surprise, but Garret couldn't help but feel like what he was hearing was one big lie. Well, at least the part about the deaths having meaning. What was the meaning in Catherine's death as she watched herself be slowly corrupted by a slime? What of Rin, who was reduced to a moaning mess of hedonistic lust before eventually losing her mind? What of the soldiers he killed that were trapped in the slime queen when he first arrived in Naton? It certainly didn't seem like those had any significance or meaning to them.

As he thought this, he locked eyes with the Valkyrie… or rather, she locked eyes with him. Suddenly, Brynhild's gaze made Garret feel very, very small. She continued to preach, though it almost felt like she was speaking directly to him with the way she stared. Did she know something? Hear his private doubts? The thought of that was unsettling, and all but confirmed by her reaction to something he said mentally. _"Get out of my head! You don't get to poke around in it."_ She suddenly returned to sweeping her eyes across the audience as she had done throughout her sermon, and though Garret really hoped that was a coincidence, he had the sinking feeling it was something more.

* * *

"Oh. MyGod. He was so cute! And Brynnild! She was beautiful! They make such a nice couple. Did you feel that little tingle when they entered the room? Did you see how his sword was shining? Ohmygod it was just too much. And their sermon! It was amazing! Why can't the other priests speak like that?! It made me feel like I could take on the world! 'to offer one's self for the Chief God is the greatest gift one can give', mmmh, they get it! They really get what the teachings are all about!"

After the service was over, the group was treated to an unending stream of adoration gushing fourth from Aisha. Based on the way she usually talked, Garret was surprised that she wasn't trying to form some sort of rhyme out of it, but apparently some things just couldn't be expressed like that effectively.

"Yeah, they were something. …but calm down, girly, you'll get to see them plenty more."

Eric tried to quiet her but mentioning the prospect of fighting along side them only stoked that fire and kept the babbling going. With bemused looks on their faces, Garret and Annika picked up the pace to get away from it a bit.

"That was quite something…"

"Oh yeah, they were pretty impressive. Have you ever seen a Valkyrie before, Garret?"

"Can't say that I have. She's beautiful… and terrifying. I'm glad she's on our side."

Annika gasped and took mock offense to his comment. "Beautiful, hmmm? Do you think she's prettier than me?"

Garret just smiled and shook his head. "Of course not."

She threw and arm around his shoulders and squeezed affectionately. "Good answer!~"

With the service over and the crusade beginning tomorrow morning, the pair decided it would be wise to get to bed early. 'Sleep as much as you can, you never know when you'll next get the chance during a crusade' was the advice the older guys in Northreach often gave, and Garret had no reason to doubt their experience. When they turned to speak with the others, they saw that Eric was still being harassed by his partner. Poor guy. The expression on his face was about as close to a cry for help as one could get. … Unfortunately for him, Annika found that watching his predicament was more entertaining than the prospect of helping him, so they quietly waved him goodbye and left him to his fate.

 **Day 16**

"Sergeant Markov! Get your group together and take up position here. Sergeant Vlack. Your group will lead the column. Sergeant Evans! Some of the men from Northreach haven't received assignments yet. You'll command them for the first phase of the crusade, and we'll fold them in with others as need be. Commander Harald, you'll oversee the ranger squads. I'm sure you know what to do."

Normally an officer would be in charge of a military operation, but a hero of the chief god was gifted with a near prescient understanding of battle tactics. In practice, he outranked everyone and was in charge of organizing the entire operation. Around the main square, carts were scattered about, filled with supplies and waiting for horses to draw them. Between them milled soldiers who lazed about until a sergeant assigned to them got them moving into some semblance of a formation. Over the span of the next few hours, the thousands of men and women composing the crusade's main force were organized for the long march.

"Fax! Nyman! Get your bags sorted, we're moving out!"

Garret and Annika hadn't been given an assignment, so for now Sergeant Evans was their defacto commander. They hurriedly tossed their packs into the cart assigned to their group, before taking up position in formation with the fifty other Northreach soldiers and marching out of the city. Unfortunately, they had been split off from Eric and Aisha. Outside the gates, a massive column had begun to assemble, nearly a dozen wide and soon-to-be hundreds of men long, with supply wagons distributed throughout it. Beside it, nearly thirty smaller ranger squads organized at its flanks. They'd probably be sweeping the forests near them as they marched through.

"Incredible… I've never seen so many soldiers before…"

Annika was likewise impressed; the scope of this operation was easily twenty times larger than anything the theocracy of Northreach could muster. It took until almost noon for everyone to get organized, but once they were, the march began. As Garret had suspected, the ranger squads quickly disappeared into the forests once they began moving. Throughout the day's travel, the screams of monsters and sounds of combat could be heard from within the forest.

* * *

None of the towns along their way had enough room to house several thousand tired soldiers, so the army marched all day until they reached the start of the great plains, where they set up camp. Once again, the organization of so many troops was closer to organized chaos than orderly direction, but somehow the war camp managed to get set up reasonably quickly. Rows upon rows of tents were quickly pitched and the ranger squads were dispatched to gather wood and hunt. Once they returned, Garret was quickly put to work, helping to light and maintain fires for the cooks. It seemed that grabbing the closest flame mage was easier for them than fiddling around with flints, steels and tinder.

Dinner was surprisingly nice, probably because they had fresh supplies. Additionally, the rangers had managed to kill a number of deer and wild boar which, while there wasn't enough to feed even half the army, did help to reduce the number of rations needed that night. Being the one of the people helping the cooks meant that Garret was able to get into line early and secure some fresh venison before it was gone – a boon that he was more than happy to share with Annika, as well as Eric and Aisha who visited their tent during dinner.

The night and next day were uneventful. Guard shifts were rotated around between different guard groups, but theirs didn't get one assigned that night. In the morning, the last shift of guards ran through the camp waking everyone at the crack of dawn to begin tearing down the tents and continue marching towards Naton's borders.

A few hours down the road, Garret spotted smoke in the distance, and later, discovered the source: a burning hamlet. The army didn't stop, though, and kept moving. When they passed, Garret stood on his toes and tried to get as good of a look as he could. Stacked against the buildings lay the bodies of a few dead families, no doubt with the intention that they would be incinerated with the building as it continued burning. Amongst the corpses, Garret spotted a holstaur and a couple weresheep. The ranger squads scouting ahead must have dealt with them. He shook his head at the family's foolishness and kept marching. No mercy for traitors or collaborators.

That evening, the energy in the camp was different. They had arrived at one of the wooden towers that marked the edge of Natonian territory, and the border guards inside had invited the officers and their hero in to discuss... something. Probably battle plans. Though the usual duties of hunting, cooking, pitching tents, and setting up guard shifts remained unchanged, the soldiers were ordered about with a greater sense of urgency than the night before, and several additional groups of soldiers were pulled for guard duty. It seemed that things were much more dangerous on the borders, even with a guard tower watching over them.

During dinner, once he had come back from the meeting, Sergeant Evans summoned Garret, Annika, and the rest of his soldiers to discuss tomorrow's events. The older man called them to gather 'round a table that had a few maps unfurled on it and pointed to a pin stuck into one of them. "Here's our current position." There was some bustling as the shorter soldiers squeezed their way to the front to get a look. "You're all from Northreach, right? I'm not sure what it's like up there, but beyond _our_ borders, it's teeming with monsters. We need to deal with them before we move on." He pointed to a few different spots marked along the map. "These towns were overrun by monsters several years ago, when an incursion pushed our border back a hundred miles. We're going to attack them and kill every monster or corrupted human we find. From there, the crusade will spread out and sweep across the plains until we reach the Stowald forests and the mountains beyond them, reclaiming our land for the glory of humanity. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Our assignment is to attack here." He pointed to one of the previously marked towns on the map. "Four other groups will be joining us, and several more will be covering the areas around the town to prevent anyone from escaping. The same will happen for the other towns. Once we've swept and secured this area, the border guards will move up and the crusade will reform. Make sure you get your rest tonight; we've got a lot of ground to cover." With that, he dismissed them and headed back to the other sergeants and officers.

"So it begins."

Annika nodded. "Yeah, now we'll get some real action."

That comment caused Garret to cock his head. "The slime queen and gate attacks weren't real action?"

"Nah… This is much bigger than that. Aren't you excited, Garret? We're taking on an entire town and actually making a difference! One less place for monsters to live and one step closer to being rid of them entirely!"

"Hmm, I guess I should be. Another step forward, eh?" So long as they didn't fail and get slaughtered in battle…

 **Day 18**

Sergeant Evans meant it when he said 'they had a lot of ground to cover', Garret mused to himself as his group marched down the road at double time. Apparently, the battle for the village wouldn't actually happen until tomorrow since it was at least a day's march away. As such, they were nearly jogging down the road with a full pack on each of their backs, only aided by the performance of their spellsingers to keep their speed up. At least they had lucked out with the group assignments. Eric and Aisha's group was also assigned to take the village, so they'd be fighting together.

Behind them, moving at a much slower pace were the other groups of soldiers who spread out across the plains to deal with any mamono away from the road. Occasionally a herd of weresheep or holstaurs would be spotted, and the group closest would descend upon them. Sometimes the herds were guarded by minotaurs, in which case, two or more of the flanking groups would organize before attacking to limit wounds and casualties. Most monsters didn't kill humans, but some of the more vicious ones were certainly capable of it, especially in a life-or-death situation.

When the village they were supposed to attack began to come within view, the column of soldiers diverted off the road, using the rolling hills of the grasslands to get closer without revealing themselves. Eventually, they could go no further and set up camp in a low spot between one and two hours from the town. Unfortunately, due to their proximity, fires and hunting were forbidden, leaving the soldiers to subsist on hard-tack and raw vegetables. That was when something interesting happened.

Just as they were about to head to bed, the guards on duty spotted a herd of centaurs approaching their camp and sounded the alarm. That lead to half the camp scrambling for their weapons, archers taking aim, and the magicians readying their spells.

"No, stop! Stand down! Everyone stand down, if you attack them, I'll kill you myself!"

The sergeant pushed his way to the front of the makeshift formation, calling for peace. Confused, Garret looked around and found that of the soldiers in the four groups, only the ones from Northreach had mobilized. The rest of the Natonian soldiers (including Eric and Aisha) were milling about, but certainly not combat ready in any way shape or form.

"The centaurs on these plains are neutral in the war. Return to your tents, there will be no fighting here!"

Most of the soldiers from Northreach begrudgingly followed through with the order and dispersed, leaving the sergeant and a few Natonian guards to face the oncoming group of monsters. Garret stuck around though, his paranoia not letting him believe that they truly had peaceful intentions, as well as Annika, who wanted to stay if her partner was staying.

The herd, numbering at least thirty, came to a stop about five meters from the guarded perimeter of the camp and their leader, a wise looking centaur sage dressed in old robes, stepped forward. Garret couldn't hear the conversation between her and the sergeant perfectly, but it seemed to be about what they were doing, if their treaties would be kept, if their people would be safe, the usual things that a community would be concerned about in war time. As they spoke, Garret spied a number of curious foals within the herd. Were they that trusting that they'd bring their children with them to talk? Or was the tribe inseparable, always travelling together? They were certainly armed with enough bows and lances that they could probably protect them long enough to escape if the worst came to pass.

Eventually, some of them trotted out from the protection of the adults when it seemed like there was no danger, curious about the soldiers. One of them, a cute, brown-haired girl who looked to only be in her early teens walked up to Garret and Annika and looked them over, as if sizing them up. The way she carried herself was similar to an aristocrat, or maybe a knight proper. She was self-assured and proud, a strange deviation from usual monster behavior. As she stared at them, Garret glared back at her, distaste clearly present in his gaze. Neutral or not, young or not, she was still a monster, and monsters had no place in this world. Eventually she trotted back to the group and, once their dialogue was complete, left with the rest of them.

When he returned to the tents, Eric noticed his dark expression and called out to him. "What's wrong, Garret? Never seen a centaur before?"

Garret sat down on the ground next to him and shook his head. "What the hell is going on? I thought we were supposed to be slaying monsters, not talking with them."

His friend looked like he had a bit of trouble understanding what made him so upset. "We are, but centaurs aren't a problem. They don't attack humans and can be reasoned with. They help us transport supplies across the plains or act as guides."

"But they're monsters!"

"… and?"

"They scatter demonic energy wherever they go, they corrupt the land, they change the men that they lay with, and with every breath they empower the demon lord! We should be killing them, not making a damn peace treaty!"

Eric furrowed his brow after hearing this. "Garret. Did you feel any demonic energy around them?"

That caused him to think back… surprisingly, he hadn't. But that didn't mean anything, a monster was a monster! The thoughtful expression on his face, though, answered Eric's question for him.

"You didn't, did you? Supposedly they don't scatter their energy around. They keep it inside them and, so long as they keep in control, don't cause any harm. To get mates, they negotiate with us for men to 'use' temporarily and the priests cleans them when they come back. Sure, it doesn't follow the teachings to the letter, but without them, keeping our border outposts supplied would be much more difficult."

That didn't seem right. That didn't seem right at all! Monsters were an abomination that shouldn't be allowed to exist. How could they be anything else? Seeing that Garret was still not accepting this at all, Eric gave him a warning.

"Dude. I'm not sure how you did things up in Northreach, but we're a little more liberal down here. We treat the centaurs like elves. You don't kill uncorrupted elves up north, do you?"

That was true, they didn't.

"Then just imagine them like that. People won't like you too much if you start yelling about killing them in public."

"I suppose…"

Throughout the discussion Annika had kept quiet, but she spoke up at the end.

"At least it means less fighting."

"That way works too!" Eric laughed and then wished them good night. It was getting late. So much for the grand speeches about slaying monsters for the good of humanity…

* * *

Laying awake in his tent, Garret couldn't sleep. He kept coming back to the damn centaurs. Naton's priests and officers had preached about killing monsters, but then changed the definition so that despite centaurs very clearly still being monstrous, they were no longer considered as such… Where was the sense in that, even if it did make logistics a bit easier?

"Hey Annika?"

Beside him, his partner yawned and rolled over. Apparently, sleep had come easier to her.

"Nyung… Yes, Garret?"

"What do you think about that? The centaurs?"

"I, uh…" She yawned again, still mostly asleep. "It's different. We wouldn't treat 'em like that in Northreach, but… Eric's right I guess… They seem harmless. Just roll with it… We're not in Northreach anymore."

She inched over and snuggled up against him. Well it was true… different nation, different customs, even if he did find that particular one heretical…

"I guess you're right… Good night, Annika."

"G'night, Garret."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** That was by far the worst case of writer's block I've had in a while… But no matter, I managed to get a chapter written, even if it took waaaay longer than I intended. Thanks for waiting! Unfortunately, though, I really don't have anything nuanced to say about it. My writer's block has moved from the story to the explanation of my creative choices, and I'm not going to delay the chapter so that I can work on the damn author's notes.

Once again, thanks for reading, and…

Until next time, Sayonara!


	7. Day 19 - Village

**Day 19 / Village**

"Hey… Psst! Hey! Get up, we're organizing."

One of the soldiers on guard duty poked his head into Garret's tent to wake both him and Annika. It was still dark outside. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the overcast, drizzly weather that rolled in last night made it difficult to get dressed – there simply wasn't enough light to see. Technically torches had been forbidden as well as their cooking fires, but Garret conjured a small flame in his hand to give them a bit of light to work with. They were still behind a hill, and even if they weren't, he doubted the village would see the glow from this distance.

When they were ready, they stepped out of the tent and pulled their cloaks tight around them in an attempt to stay somewhat dry. Rain poured down from the heavens, and around them, soldiers scurried about, whispering to their comrades in low voices as the battlegroups began to organize. At least the rain, while miserable, would let them approach the town unseen.

"Lovely weather for a fight, eh?"

A bit of moonlight filtering through the clouds gave just enough illumination for Eric to spot and wave to them as he trudged through the mud. No doubt he was on his way to his group's rallying point as well.

"Absolutely wonderful…"

When Garret and Annika arrived, they were surprised to find that only a few other soldiers had shown up before them, a welcome change from constantly being almost late. While they waited for the rest of the men to show up, Sergeant Evans had them inspect each other's armour and weapons to make sure everyone had managed to gear up properly in the dark. Once the rest of them arrived, he got them organized into formation, then instructed them to wait while he went to discuss the battle with the other group leaders and their officer. Twenty minutes later, a runner came and directed them to march to a new location, where they found the four other groups responsible for attacking the town directly. When they arrived, their sergeant had them gather around him to brief them quietly.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you slept well. We've got a big day ahead of us."

He unfolded what looked like a map, then looked over the group, searching for someone.

"Which one of you was the fire sorcerer? Garret? Give us a _little_ light here."

Stepping forward, Garret dutifully obeyed, producing just enough of a flame to make out the writing on the parchment.

"Here's the plan, we're going to move straight down the town's main street, one group on each side, three on the road." He pointed to the positions on the crudely sketched map. "Our group is going to be on the right side, taking up the rear. Most of the fighting will probably happen on the main road as we push towards the town's center, so the groups ahead of us will remain in formation and deal with that. As they push up, we will disperse into pairs to clear the side streets and houses. We want to kill or drive away the monsters there and protect our main force's flanks. If the mamono flee the town, the units on the plains will deal with them, if they flee towards the road, they'll have to fight our soldiers. Any questions?"

One of the spearmen raised his hand.

"How many monsters are we going to be fighting?"

"Not sure. We don't know how many are in the town. Before it fell, it housed a thousand people, so expect a similar population. More than half are likely civilians, though. We won't outnumber them, but we have surprise and organization on our side. Anything else?"

No one spoke up.

"Good. Thanks for the light, Garret. Now everyone, get ready, we're going to move soon."

* * *

Garret slowly crept across the field with the rest of the soldiers. The rain and darkness obscured their advance, so they managed to get within a hundred meters of the town without alerting the guards. Once they reached that distance, a whispered command to halt was passed through their ranks. In front of them lay a cluster of four mamono, gathered around a fire beside the town's main road. The minotaur stood with her axe planted in front of her, diligently sweeping her gaze across the dark fields. An orc stood beside her, though she was more interested in fidgeting with her weapon, no doubt bored. Beside the fire, a satyros and a grizzly swapped stories as they shared a flask of wine. The fact that only one of them was taking their duty seriously didn't surprise Garret in the slightest. Hedonistic monsters… they knew no discipline – something that they were about to pay for.

Ahead of them, a squad of eight rangers had dropped to their bellies and crawled through the dirt to get closer, undetected. Four of them rose to a kneel and took aim with their bows while the others crawled forward, then switched, ensuring that someone always had a weapon trained on the monsters. When they were within twenty meters, they all rose and aimed. It was here that the minotaur thought she spotted something and began to take a step forward to investigate. That step was never completed, however, as a pair of arrows embedded themselves in her head. In the blink of an eye, six more arrows followed, slaying the other inept guards. After a brief pause, the lead ranger gestured for the soldiers to enter the town. Garret couldn't help but nod his head, impressed. The ranger corps in Naton must be extremely well trained if they were able to operate with that level of coordination.

When his group reached the town's main road, they quietly split off and began to make their way into the right-side streets while their counterparts and the main force worked on the left and organized in the middle, respectively. Quietly, pairs of soldiers eased doors open and crept into the houses to clear them or whispered for a mage to help when they found a rare door that had been locked. Garret and Annika's house was one of these as well, an anomaly amongst the almost entirely unlocked street. Strange. Monster territories were notoriously crime free and safe (if you didn't count rape as a crime), why bother locking it? Unlike the others, who needed to wave for help, though, Garret was more than capable of opening it on his own. He focused his fire into a white-hot and razor thin blade, slipping it between the door and frame to silently melt through the latch. When he nodded to Annika, she opened the door and crept in as quietly as her armour would allow.

The building's interior answered the question of why it was locked. With crates stacked behind the counter and till, and various bits of merchandise dotting the room, it was clearly some sort of shop. To see what they were doing, Garret kept a tiny flame going as they snuck up a narrow set of stairs towards what he assumed would be the bedroom. They cracked the door and were greeted by loud snoring. On the mattress before them, lay a human (transformed into an incubus) wrapped in the coils of his lamia 'wife' as she cuddled him. What they were about to do wouldn't be considered particularly honourable, but monsters didn't deserve that consideration. Garret extinguished the flame and quietly drew a sword. Annika did the same and crept up beside the man while Garret took the lamia's side. On the count of three, they both plunged their swords into their foe's heads, easily piercing through their skulls and eliminating the enemies of humanity in a single motion.

With the house clear, the two turned to leave, though Garret paused a moment. He looked around the surprisingly opulent bedroom, examining pieces of artwork (paintings of the two 'lovers') and the finely crafted furniture (many with snake motifs). On the nightstand beside the lamia's half of the bed lay an ornately carved box with a partially glass lid. When he flipped it open, he discovered a collection of expensive looking jewelry inside. Bangles, necklaces, rings and earrings all decorated either with precious stones or beautiful engravings. "For Ina, the light in my nights" read the inscription on one of the rings. Garret shook his head at the sight. If it had been a human couple, he would have been touched by the romantic gesture, but this was anything but touching. Demonic energy corrupted men, and this 'romantic' gift, forced by the mental conditioning, was a perversion of true devotion. Monsters enslaved their captives with lust, hedonism and mental control, it wasn't like they were _actually_ in love… right? He quickly pocketed the jewelry to sell later. They certainly weren't going to miss it.

The next house was unlocked and much more modestly decorated. With no second floor this time, Garret and Annika crept between rooms until they found the family, also happily snoozing away in each other's embrace. This time it was a succubus, thankfully a lesser one. He doubted they'd be able to sneak up on a succubus proper this easily. Once again, he and Annika stabbed their foes through the temple for a swift end. This time, though, one of the bodies spasmed and woke something they hadn't noticed before.

"M-Mommy?"

The covers wriggled and pulled themselves back as an adorable little girl, no more than five, was roused by the motions. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the two intruders, shocked, then opened her mouth, about to scream. Garret immediately prevented that, lunging forward with his sword. The telltale horns and tail (even if they were small) meant she was a monster, and there was no mercy for monsters. Besides… monster children matured at a much faster rate than their human counterparts. It wasn't like he had _really_ killed a little girl… right?

Annika looked at him in horror as he pulled his blade back, letting her slump onto the increasingly blood-soaked sheets.

"Garret, you…"

He didn't want to hear this. This was for the good of humanity and the mission! It had to be done!

"It was her or us, Annika. If she screamed, she'd wake the neighbors, you know I had to do it."

Annika's whispered voice shook as she struggled to maintain her composure. "For God's sake, Garret, she was just a child! I… How could… She hadn't even done anything…"

As she spoke, her anger shifted from Garret to the situation in general. He was thankful that she was usually levelheaded when it came to things like this and knew she couldn't fully blame him.

"Look, I don't like it either… but we didn't have a choice. Lets just finish our mission and talk about it later."

"Yeah…"

Nothing he could say would convince Annika quickly enough, and their mission was still going on. They were soldiers, they followed orders, and right now the mission came first.

The next fifteen minutes continued the trend of sneaking into houses and butchering their sleeping occupants. With such a low crime rate, there was no need for guards to patrol the streets outside of the town entrances, and the lack of monster soldiers made the initial stages of their attack incredibly easy. Garret did a bit of mental math in his head, trying to figure out the progress they had made. With this many soldiers, using two to deal with each house, over that length of time… If there were two monsters per house (or a monster and an incubus), they had probably killed well over a hundred by now. Maybe even two. A fifth of the village dealt with? This easily? That was phenomenally good luck.

All 'good' things must come to an end, though, and eventually the town was alerted. Maybe someone hesitated like Annika had when faced with a child. Maybe a monster had woken up and decided to go for a midnight stroll. Maybe a soldier had just gotten clumsy and knocked something over, alerting their targets. Garret didn't know for sure what caused this, but he heard a scream, followed by more as the monsters around them woke up and looked out their windows to see soldiers killing everyone they could find. Following this, there was another twenty or so minutes of relatively easy work, as mamono, dragging, carrying, or running with their husbands as quickly as they could, frantically fled the approaching soldiers. Their disorganized retreat made it easy for them to isolate pairs to kill, or for rangers to shoot down the runners. The few monsters that did turn and fight at this stage were easily overwhelmed. What was a single minotaur or jinko to a dozen soldiers attacking in tandem? All they had to do was try their best to herd the majority towards the main road where an even larger force of soldiers was waiting for them. Eventually, though, a defense was organized, and the true battle began.

* * *

Garret could tell that the easy part was over when the last of the stragglers disappeared, either from being killed, or from successfully escaping. This intuition was not lost on the sergeant either, who called for them to form up, then split them off into groups of ten each and ordered them to patrol the streets. They needed to protect the flanks of the main force as it moved towards the town center. Already they could hear the sounds of combat coming from the road.

As his group patrolled, Garret and Annika kept a sharp eye out, watching the dark alleys and roof tops. If the monsters of the town had any sense at all, they'd be coming shortly.

"Shh… did you hear that?"

One of the other soldiers from Northreach stopped and put a hand to his ear, trying to listen. The whole group immediately halted and formed a circle, looking around. Five minutes, then ten went by, but nothing happened. They didn't hear anything, and eventually the all-clear was sounded.

"Sorry guys, I guess I was wrong."

The eight of them took one last look around before moving again.

A few minutes later, Garret heard a crack, like a stone had fallen. This time, he called them to a halt, looking and listening. Five minutes passed… nothing.

"I don't like this… not one bit…"

Was he actually hearing a monster? Or was it just his imagination? The six of them formed back up and-WAIT, SIX?! They had started with ten, hadn't they?! The other soldiers seemed to come to this realization at the same time and immediately panicked, looking around franticly, pointing their swords and spears at whatever direction they thought looked the most dangerous. Annika moved to within an inch of Garret, raising her shield to protect the two of them and shoving him into the middle of the formation while he prepared his magic.

From somewhere above them, a roof shingle cracked.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for a moment. After hearing the noise, he produced a brilliant blast of vertical flame to illuminate the area. A pair of mantes, mid-jump, were blinded momentarily. Beside him, the pair they were aiming for flinched and began to twist towards the light. The soldiers already facing them reflexively thrust their sword towards the mamono, grazing them. Blinded by the light, when the mantes tried to grab the man and woman, they found that their targets had moved just enough to thwart their planned attack. Instead of being able to latch on and then jump away, the shifted positions caused them to stumble. The targeted soldiers, also off balance, fell to the ground, pulling the mantes with them. The two mantis-girls were quick to react, but so were the soldiers. As the mamono scrambled to their feet, a swordsman slashed at one of them. The mantis raised a claw to deflect it. She in turn, swiped at the soldier with her other arm, but was blocked by his partner's shield. It received a nasty looking dent but stopped the blow. Somewhere in the commotion, a spear-woman got an attack through, piercing the mantis' thigh, eliciting a scream from their usually emotionless foe. Annika rushed forward, bashing the other mamono with her shield (blocked again by a claw), but using the distraction to slip her sword through its guard and gut it. Garret fired a blast of flame at the first mantis again, scorching her mildly, but more importantly, blinding her again for just enough time to allow another soldier to bring her mace down on its head. Mantes were terrifying huntresses, but if you managed to pin them down, they could be overwhelmed all the same.

"Is everyone alright?" One of the soldiers asked. Everyone nodded in affirmation.

"Good work, Annika."

"Thanks, Garret. You too."

"We should start looking for the others. They couldn't have been taken far!"

The spear-woman from before piped up, leading to more nodding and murmured agreement. They couldn't leave their countrymen behind. Soldiers of Northreach stuck together. They quickly organized into a defensive formation, light a few torches, and then advanced into one of the dark alleys. Almost as soon as they stepped out the other side, though, they discovered a much more immediate problem and realized the search would have to wait.

The street ahead of them was full of weapon and torch-wielding mamono. Minotaurs, orcs, lizardmen, and the occasional werewolf or werecat all milled about, some heading towards the main road to flank it, others moving towards the alleys to attack from the rear. Needless to say, they were spotted almost immediately. A minotaur roared, Annika began shouting for help, and the soldiers quickly formed a shield wall, retreating to the alley's mouth. There was no way six soldiers could fight this many mamono without help, they needed to hold out long enough for the other patrolling soldiers to arrive.

The monsters charged. Garret threw a burning spear into the lead minotaur and detonated it, before hunching over as the energy was sucked out of him. The beastman roared in pain, but unlike the slimes, was not stopped by a single spell. It tried to rush the line, but the spear-woman braced her weapon, impaling it through the chest and giving the rest of the group enough time to slash or stab it to death. A few lizardmen approached, skilled enough with their blades to make advances safely. They slashed quickly, deflecting the counter attacks, then disengaged to begin the process anew. The werecats and werewolves waited until the other monsters had the line's attention, then lept forward to try and overwhelm them. Annika slashed one out of the air with her sword, wounding (but not killing) it, and Garret let out a few flashes of fire, scorching fur and blinding the others to give their soldiers enough time to react. They may be weak, but these spells at least didn't require much energy.

Their battle continued like this, with neither side gaining much ground, for several minutes. The monsters outnumbered them ten-to-one, but the alley meant only a few could approach at a time. When things got too dangerous, the group would take a step back to make space, covering each other, but never crumpled. The greatest danger for that came when a witch made an appearance, riding over them on a broom and casting blasts of dark magic down at them. The first and second spells struck a pair of swordsmen, staggering them as it knocked them back, but by the third, Garret had spotted the magician. He intercepted the spells with bolts of his own fire, using the magical interference to either dispel them or make them veer wildly off target. Eventually he found an opening in her barrage and invested a significant portion of his energy to conjure and throw an immolating lance at her. She easily dodged it on her broom, but he kept hold of the magic, using sheer force of willpower to shift its vector and make the spell swerve. The burning spear made a wide arc through the air and took the witch by surprise when it impaled her from behind.

"Die!"

The girl's life ended with the detonation of his spell, and Garret slumped to his knees again, nearly falling over from the exertion. As a magic user, shouldn't she have had wards protecting her? Maybe she had forgotten to cast them, or maybe she didn't know warding magic... Either way, he wasn't going to complain. He couldn't do something like that very often, though, he needed to conserve his energy. There was always Catherine's crystal, but wanted to avoid using it for as long as possible to keep it as a contingency.

Gradually, the other Northreach soldiers arrived, with groups of ten opening up new fronts in the monster's lines as they attacked from other alleys. They slowly began to surround the mamono and push them away from the main column's flanks, then started picking them off a few at a time in a careful, but unrelenting advance.

* * *

Over the next hour, the soldiers fighting on the road pushed into the town, eventually reaching the main square. Garret, with his group at its side, dutifully followed, clearing the alleys of whatever stragglers or flanking monsters they could find. When they also arrived at the center, they hurried to the side of the main force. There were no back alleys here, only a veritable sea of mamono. It seemed that every last combat capable monster in town had arrived for a final decisive battle. The way that they had rallied like that was strange. Garret had been expecting the monsters to fight like they always had, in small packs or on their own, not loosely organized into a hoard. Someone must be calling the shots on their side.

By luck, he and Annika found themselves side-by-side with Eric and Aisha as the shield walls from the Northreach troops and the Natonian soldiers merged. Eric gave a quick nod in greeting, though there was no time for conversation. Monsters were hurling themselves against the formation in droves, trying to open a breach in the lines. Eric had to frantically block or deflect crushing blows from minotaur or grizzlies, and Aisha was obviously busy singing. Amongst the monsters attacking them, Garret spotted many lesser succubi who were casting spells to lure, entice or distract the soldiers – magic that Aisha and the rest of the spellsingers seemed to be trying to counteract with their music. A volley of arrows flew just overhead as the rangers in the rear fired into the horde. One of the soldiers in front of Garret made a particularly unadvised attack and was almost immediately killed when his blow was parried. The lizardman in front of him knocked his axe aside and impaled him with her sword. Garret cast a burning arc at her, wounding and forcing her back enough for the formation to adjust to the loss of its member. The monsters must be getting desperate. Normally it would be unheard of for a monster to outright kill a human instead of kidnapping him, but these mamono probably already had a family (if you could call it that) to protect, or more likely, were too desperate to try and convert anyone when killing would be quicker and safer. The Order had already captured half of the town and showed no signs of ceasing it's advance, if they wanted to stop them here, killing would probably be the only way they could do it.

Occasionally, monsters would break the shield wall, maybe from a group of were-beasts charging all at once or maybe from an orc shattering a shield, but nevertheless, the horde would surge forward. One of those times came a few minutes later, and Garret (as well as the other mages and rangers) were immediately commanded to direct their fire and suppress the advance. He threw a roaring ball of fire, blasting one of the werewolves off their feet, while the other rangers and mages acted in similar fashion. As every advance before had been, it was eventually dealt with when the leaders were cut down or riddled with arrows, but not before a handful of Order soldiers had been slain. The troops around the 'wedge' had managed to defend themselves rather well, a testament to the competency of The Order's military, but every death meant their advance had to become a bit more careful and a bit more cautious to prevent another.

Despite this, victory was becoming more and more certain as time went on. Mamono fell in far greater numbers than the soldiers of The Order, and they had only ever been slowed, never outright halted or pushed back. They were about to engulf the surviving members of the monster horde and finish them off, when they heard the tramp of metal boots approaching. A formation of infantry, in varying states of equip and readiness, pushed through the monster's lines from behind, letting the mamono reorganize behind or beside it. The male citizens of the town, fully transformed and equipped with whatever armour or weapons could be found, were advancing towards The Order's soldiers. A rarity in the war between humans and monsters, a proper battle between infantry formations was about to begin.

* * *

The problem wasn't that incubus soldiers were better than human soldiers, but rather one of morale. While it was true that the demonic energy tended to enhance their physical prowess, it hampered them mentally with countless intruding thoughts of sex… or so the priests claimed. Supposedly, if they kept their calm and focus, they'd be able to win by superior discipline, training and equipment. That assertation turned out to be accurate as The Order began to cut into the line of men who, though they were stronger and tougher, could not match the skill of their trained soldiers.

The morale problem was the one that ended up having the biggest effect on their performance. The sun had started to rise, and it gave enough light to allow them to see exactly who they were fighting. When Garret finished off a spear-wielding incubus with successive blasts of fire, he was surprised to see the snowflake insignia that marked a Northreach soldier adorning the armour of the man who replaced it. The soldiers that had been dragged away in the battle, the men who went missing when the mantis girls attacked, and guards lost during the monster incursion from long ago were all present in the enemy's army… and that was something especially unnerving. Soldiers gasped or froze when they found themselves face to face with one of their missing friends, and that pause was usually fatal, as the incubi-who-were-once-men attacked without mercy. Some of them called out to their former comrades, encouraging them to give up or turn on the other soldiers, promising how wonderful life under the demon lord could be.

"Johann! Come on, man, I know you don't want to fight me. Just give it up! The Order is finished, the mamono can't be stopped. Don't throw your life away!"

"Hey, Niles~ Remember that blonde tavern girl you always liked? I know a cute succubus just like her! Come on, I can introduce you~"

Between the peels of steel on steel, the incubi shouted to the friends that they recognized. Sometimes they were returned with a cry of "Shut Up!", and a flurry of blows, but other times their words did more damage than a sword could ever do. This was especially true when it came from an old partner or someone who's 'death' they hadn't come to terms with yet.

"Hannah!"

"No... No, not you too, Sam…"

"Hannah, please! Please! I don't want to lose you again!"

The man didn't attack, and the Natonian girl froze, unable to bring herself to harm her lover, monstrous though he may be. A soldier beside her tried to attack him, but she screamed and used her shield to block the blow.

"No! Don't…!"

She never got to finish the sentence. 'Sam' dropped his sword and grabbed her during her moment of distraction, hauling her out of formation, and disappearing into the ranks of the other incubi.

It made no sense… How could soldiers from the Theocracy of Northreach have been corrupted this quickly? They should have been stronger than that, mentally.

In front of him, Annika was dueling with a soldier from their number, though thankfully neither of them knew each other.

The transformation to an incubus only took a few hours at most, but to reshape their minds into something capable of fighting and not just lusting? That should have taken a day at least!

When Annika battered the man's shield aside, Garret let lose a blast of fire that flew just over her shoulder before arcing down to scorch the man.

What could have caused them to give in so easily? When a flying shape rose above the chaos, he knew he had his answer.

"SUCCUBUUUUUS!" A soldier yelled to alert them. At the sight of a greater demon, Garret felt a shiver run down his spine and a tremble through his legs. She flared her wings menacingly, then dove towards the formation with supernatural speed. Like the mantes in the alleys, she tackled a soldier faster than he could react, then took off, taking him with her into the air. Unlike the mantes, though, she didn't kidnap him to be converted (likely by her). Instead, when she reached a sufficient height, she threw the man, letting gravity do the work for her, before immediately diving down for another victim. The rangers quickly switched targets, firing at her as she flew, but to little effect. Not only was it difficult to hit a target moving at that speed, she also reached out with her hand, calling forth a wall of energy sprung to shield her. Soldiers with spears, she left alone, likely because of the danger of being impaled, but those who wielded shorter weapons found themselves at her mercy with little that could be done. Some tried to hit her before she grabbed them, but she was too fast for them to do any more than superficial damage. On the off chance that a soldier was prepared for her and had his sword at the ready, she'd just swerve erratically and grab someone else – usually from the frontline – who had their focus elsewhere.

A magician from somewhere cast a bolt of arcane energy, but the beam warped around the succubus instead of piercing into her. Wards… Maybe he could punch through it with enough power? Garret took a moment to prepare himself before investing almost all of his remaining energy into a single flaming spear. He hurled the spear towards her as she began to hover to prepare for another dive. Like his fireball in Catherine's house, the flaming spear halted an inch or two from the succubus' chest and began to fight the wards. The extra energy he had invested allowed it to persist much longer, but it still sputtered out after a few seconds with no success.

"Shit!"

Garret hunched over, hands on his knees as the energy was sucked out of him. Even that wasn't enough… With ragged breaths, he wiped the sweat off his brow before grabbing the crystal around his neck and siphoning the energy from it as fast as he dared without damaging it. Not for the first time, he whispered a quick 'thanks' to his dead friend for giving him this.

"Garret, look out!"

A warning was shouted from his partner, but by the time he raised his head, it was too late. Having apparently taken an interest in where the latest spell had come from, the succubus swooped down and was almost upon him. To his surprise, though, salvation came in the form of a tackle. Annika had abandoned the frontline and dove into Garret, knocking him to the ground and, more importantly, out of harms way. Unfortunately, that meant Annika was now the one in danger, and the succubus grabbed her instead.

"No! Annika!"

He scrambled to his feet, coming face to face with a group of mamono that charged into the gap she left.

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

He raised his hands and threw a wide blast of fire across them, badly burning the monsters and knocking them back a step from its pressure. That gave him enough space to move, and the soldiers enough of an opening to counterattack… but at the cost of a lot of energy. Damn it! Using all his strength, he might have been able to punch through the wards once, but now he had no chance! He frantically searched through the brightening sky, looking for the succubus. … There! Flying through the air, she dodged shards of rock fired by an earth mage and blocked the ranger's arrows with another spell. When she reached the apex of her flight, Garret watched in horror as she let go of Annika, then pried her hands off her leg when his partner tried to catch herself and hold on. She plummeted a half dozen stories, through the thatched roof of a house, landing somewhere inside. Shit, shit, shit!

Though every fiber of his being was telling him to run to her side and see if she was alive, Garret managed to remain still. Leaving the formation might well be suicide in a battle like this, and that succubus was still around… Shit, what was he going to do… The demon made another swoop, but Garret made himself scarce this time, blending into the crowd and nearly hugging a spearman for shelter as she grabbed another victim. Again, she dodged the blasts of rock and blocked the arrows with impunity. How were they supposed to fight against _that_?! The battle was still going well on the ground, but if she picked off enough soldiers, the tide would quickly turn… how were they going to stop her? They couldn't hit her with magic or arrows, and she avoided any of the soldiers that could actually harm her. When she flew by again, Garret let out a half-hearted blast of flame that (predictably) fizzled when it hit her. Nothing. Was there really nothing they could do?

"Hey. Hey! You're the wizard shooting fire, right?"

A minute later, a man dressed in brown and green robes pushed his way through the soldiers and grabbed Garret by the shoulder. He spun around, startled, then nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a flame sorcerer. Not that it's-"

He got cut off as the man interrupted him.

"Can you make an explosion?"

"Uh, yes."

The man's eyes lit up. "How precisely?"

Garret conjured a small flaming spear for his viewing pleasure.

"If I use one of these, I can detonate it wherever it lands… But what good is that? I can't pierce her wards!"

"Doesn't matter! Did you see my rocks? She always dodges them; I can't throw them fast enough." The ground at their feet split open to produce another shard of rock which the earth sorcerer threw at the succubus making another pass. As before, she swerved slightly, just enough to avoid the rock before grabbing the soldier she had been aiming for.

"But she can't block them like she does the arrows and she doesn't move much! She never dodges by more than a few feet!"

True… presumably if the sorcerer could guide his rocks like Garret could guide his fire, the succubus would have been long dead. Wards didn't work against mundane (but magically propelled) rocks. They needed to find a way to do that, though… Suddenly the answer came tumbling to him.

"You want me to detonate one of your shards, don't you?"

The earth mage snapped his fingers and nodded.

"Bingo. But not a shard, we'll need more rock than that. I'll make a much larger rock for you to blow up. If the shrapnel hits her and takes her down, she's finished."

They didn't have any other options, so Garret nodded.

"Let do it then."

The earth sorcerer shoved a few swordsmen away to make room, then split the earth with a spell. When the succubus reached her preferred altitude and dropped another unfortunate man, he called forth a large, somewhat spherical ball of stone about two feet in diameter. Judging by the sweat pooling on his brow, it was as taxing an effort as it looked.

"We've only got… one shot… gotta make it count."

Shattering something this size was going to be tough. Conjuring another flaming spear, Garret punched it into the middle of the rock, using a sizable amount of energy to make sure It reached the core, then nodded, his whole body tense as he held the spell.

When the succubus began to swoop down again towards another terrified soldier, the mage roared and shoved his arm forward like he was throwing a shot. The rock followed its movements, then was catapulted into the air as the magic propelled it. Drained from the effort, the sorcerer collapsed. Now it was Garret's turn.

The rock was slightly off target, owing to its size, but that didn't matter. As before, the succubus shifted one wing to roll slightly and let the rock harmlessly pass her… only this time it didn't. Garret channeled all of his remaining strength into the spell, causing the spear within the rock to detonate. It fractured and exploded into a hundred tiny fragments that, even if the succubus could block them, were too close for her to do anything about as they shredded her wings, punctured her body, and did exactly what they had hoped for: knocked her out of the air.

The succubus crashed to the ground, knocking over a couple soldiers as she did. When she skidded to a halt, she found herself looking up at the man she had originally been aiming for. The two of them froze, the man from the start, and the demon, still disoriented from the blast and crash. The soldiers around them, though, didn't take much time to process what just happened. All they knew was that the woman harrying their forces was at their feet and they descended upon her in a flurry of swords and axes.

Garret managed to hold onto his strength for just long enough to watch her crash before ending up in a similar state to the earth sorcerer. He slumped to his knees, then fell over as the spell took its toll. His crystal still had some power in it, so before his consciousness fled, he placed a hand on it and absorbed the remaining energy – just enough to get him walking and maybe cast a single flame arc.

"Did we…. Did we get her?"

The green-brown robed man, slumped on the ground beside him, looked like he was on the verge of unconsciousness as well, though he managed to hold on. Lucky.

"Yeah… She's gone. Nice job."

Garret pulled him to his feet and slung an arm over his shoulder, before helping him walk to the rear of the formation. Neither of them were in any shape to fight, and they only risked being trampled by staying here.

* * *

Without the succubus harassing The Order, victory was assured. The presence of the corrupted soldiers slowed and inflicted more casualties than expected but did not stop them. Within an hour, the monsters had broken and either fled the town or died where they stood. As The Order dispersed to sweep the town, Garret knew exactly where he had to go. Leaving the sorcerer behind, he sprinted through the streets until he found the house with a hole in its roof. Barging through the door, he headed for the second story, frantically calling for his partner.

"Garret! Over. Here."

The reply he got was curt and punctuated by sharp breaths, but it filled him with hope. When he ran into the room that the voice came from, he saw Annika sort of slouched against a bed, with broken pieces of wood and straw scattered on the floor around her. By some miracle, she had missed the main beams supporting the roof and crashed through a thinner section, cushioning her fall and allowing her to survive.

"Annika!"

Garret ran over, about to hug her, but she put an arm up to stop him. When he looked her over, it made sense why. One arm lay limp by her side, and her legs were splayed at strange angles… her survival had been bought at the price of many broken bones.

"I'll get a priest!"

She nodded, whimpering as she breathed. Maybe she had some broken ribs as well.

* * *

It turned out several priests would be needed to heal Annika… but given the amount of wounded, only one was available. The man numbed her pain and healed enough the damage to allow her to move, then helped Garret limp her out of the house.

"Thank God you survived, Annika… I was so worried."

"Yeah. Well. I almost didn't."

Even with the divine magic muting the pain, her sentences were still short and sharp. It seemed it couldn't stop everything, and speaking still hurt.

"Are you. Alright, Garret?"

Her concern for him, when she had been the one dropped, caused him to look at her like she was crazy.

"Am I ok?! I'm not injured, but of course I'm not ok! I almost lost you! What were you thinking, diving on me like that?!"

He paused for a moment, realizing that the last thing he should be doing was berating her and lightly squeezed her hand.

"But uh… Thank you for saving me, Annika… That's twice I owe you for."

She smiled at him and squeezed back.

"That's what. Partners. Are for."

As they walked back to the town center, she searched the sky and ground, looking for the foe that grabbed her.

"Did they get her?"

"Yeah, an earth sorcerer hit her with an exploding boulder."

With the state Annika was in, Garret had no desire to take credit and, by comparison, make her performance look even worse.

"Dead?"

He nodded and thumbed to the spot where she had fallen.

"She crashed down in the middle of our soldiers and they did what they did best."

Annika nodded, then winced.

"Good. I don't. Want to see. Another. For a while."

After their joint experience of being nearly helpless in the face of a proper demon, Garret completely agreed.

* * *

In the town square, opposite to where the battle lines had been drawn, a medical tent had been hastily erected with several more on the way. Cots, little more than stretchers with a pair of cross-pieces under their poles, had been set out in rows with wounded soldiers laying on them, waiting to be tended to as priests and chirurgeons scurried about. Whenever a wound was deemed severe enough, a priest would be called over to use healing magic, otherwise a chirurgeon would simply clean and bandage the less critical ones. Likely all of the injured would eventually get healed by magic, but with a limited amount of energy to go around, priority was given to saving lives. Once assured that they could stand by themselves, the priest helping them went off to find an empty cot, then, failing that, retrieved one from a supply wagon and quickly set it up. Garret nodded the man his thanks as he helped Annika walk over to it and lie down. He wanted to help her remove her armour, but decided to leave that to the medical staff. The metal plates might be holding broken bones in place, and he didn't know enough about wound treatment to avoid doing further harm.

With only (a lot) of broken bones, but no danger of bleeding out, Annika was marked as one of the lowest priorities for treatment, so Garret made himself comfortable at her bed side while they waited.

"You don't. Have to stay. Garret. I'll be. Fine."

He took her hand and shook his head.

"No, I'm not going anywhere. Not until we get you back on your feet."

She smiled slightly and closed her eyes.

"Sorry. I won't be. Good company."

He returned the smile and half-heartedly chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, Annika, get some rest. I'll stick around."

Outside the tent, a horn sounded, signaling for the soldiers to rally. Apparently he had somewhere to be, but they wouldn't miss one person skipping out. He intended to ignore the call, but Annika had other ideas. She released his hand and cracked an eye.

"Go to them… they might. Need a mage."

"They'll be fine, Annika, I'd rather stay here with you."

"No… It's your. Job. I'll be fine. Better to. Do something. Useful."

He looked her over, torn between wanting to support his partner and acknowledging the truth of her words. Eventually, though, her reasoning won out.

"… Alright, Annika. I'll be back soon, just get some rest."

"Good luck. Garret."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** "Oi, Raven! Where's your chapter? You were supposed to publish a month ago!" "Uuuuuuuughhhhh fiiiiiine..." *uploads file*

Yeah, I've been pretty busy lately and there seems to be no end of that in sight. Sorry about keeping y'all waiting. Rest assured that I am squeezing in as much writing as I can and have no intention of abandoning this story until it is done. Hopefully this abnormally long chapter makes up for my absence. Now, with that out of the way, on to my commentary.

Part of the reason this chapter took so long to write was me constantly redoing the battle scenes. Back when I did a bunch of text-based roleplays, I had a tendency to be very matter-of-fact when describing scenes. This doesn't really mesh well with the advice that you should 'show, not tell' when writing a story, though, so I had to redo a lot of sections to make them more fitting to the medium. I still am not convinced that I did a great job with making the scenes particularly interesting or expressive, but trust me... they were actually terrible before I did my second and third revisions. I'd like to think they're better now, but this is a skill that I'm definitely still trying to develop.

One thing I wanted to do with this battle was to avoid glorifying it and portray the war in a more grey fashion. Is stabbing to death a bunch of sleeping men, women and children honorable? moral? chivalrous? It certainly doesn't fit the idea of what a legendary knight in shining armour would do. How about killing the fleeing civilians? Looting the belongings of the dead? All of this looks like something you would see in the opening scenes of a fantasy movie... but in those, it would be done by an 'evil empire'. This is being done by the 'good guys'.

I wanted to be careful to not make The Order into a good organization free of flaws and, by extension, show that there are certain times when Garret is... not a good person (more on this next chapter). Portraying the battle strategies as ruthlessly pragmatic (Why give the monsters a fair fight when, by killing them as they sleep or run, you lower the risk to your soldiers?) and disregarding our own contemporary laws of war facilitates this, I think. It also gives me the chance to write for how a 'good' person would justify these actions. What does Garret do when he decides to kill a child or destroy a loving family? He plays it down. It's not _really_ a little girl, it's a monster. It's not _actually_ a loving relationship, it's just brainwashing. Really, he's setting the men free by killing them, so it's ok. ... Right? What this war does to the people fighting it and the justifications they make to excuse their actions is going to come up a fair bit in later chapters.

Corruption is also a big topic I wanted to start to touch on. As written in the MGE, when you become an incubus, your beliefs and allegiance change, but not much else... so if your friend goes missing, you might have to fight that very same friend later on, who is still conscious, still acts like they used to, still seems like the same person... except they've become completely loyal to the demon lord, and are drunk on pleasure. What does that do to a person who has to face them? Would they still be able to fight? Some would, others wouldn't. I hope I did a good enough job at portraying this, but even if I didn't, it's definitely going to come up again in later chapters, so I'll have another chance.

Now, lets move on to the monsters. Succubi are written strangely in the MGE. In almost every profile or lore entry, they're shown to be the default state when you become a monster (admittedly, with a transition phase from lesser to full), however the first line of their profile states 'A greater demon possessing extremely powerful abilities'. If we take the MGE at face value, that means the most common type of monster is also one of the most powerful ones, which doesn't seem right. I've altered this by changing it so that lesser succubi are the common ones, and full succubi are much more rare. If you encounter a full succubus, though, oh boy, you're in for trouble. I think this makes much more sense.

As for the monsters found in the town, well, since it was written that the town fell to a mamono incursion years back, I thought it made sense to have it mostly populated with the kinds of mamono you would find in a reverse crusade. That means common, weapon-wielding monsters like minotaur, lizardmen, etc. or ones that could use pack tactics to fight (were-beasts).

Shit, this is getting long. These notes added over an extra 1k words to the chapter, but I think it's important for me to write them to reflect and give a bit of insight to why I wrote the way I did. Lets wrap it up now.

Once again, thank you everyone for reading, and a double thank-you to those who reviewed, followed or favourited. It's always nice to watch those numbers creep up and to receive feedback, even if it's just a few words.

That's all I've got for now, so...

Until next time, Sayonara!


	8. Day 19 Cont - Children

**Day 19 Cont. / Children**

Hurry up and wait – the much reviled and far too common occurrence in the military had reared its head again. Only a handful of soldiers had arrived by the time Garret showed up, forcing him stand in formation for half an hour while the officer blew the horn again and waited for other troops to filter in from around town. Throughout it, all he could do was think, annoyed, that he could have been spending this time at Annika's side and be just as productive. When they did organize, the sergeants called their respective battlegroups to attention and began to go through roll call, excusing the soldiers whose partners were either dead or missing. Fortunately, Annika was neither dead nor missing, but unfortunately, that meant Garret still had a job to do.

"Good work everyone, you all fought well. Is everyone doing alright? Is there anything I should know before I send you out on another mission?"

The group murmured and a handful of soldiers raised their hands, signaling something was wrong. Sergeant Evans pulled each of them out of the formation individually to talk in private, dismissing most of them, but sending a few back to the formation. Maybe some of them were too shaken up from having to fight their own soldiers or from the horrors of the battle in general. Once done, he returned to the front of the group and launched into his briefing.

"Alright, now let's get down to business. We've cleared the town and swept the streets, but most of the buildings haven't been searched yet. Now we're going to go through the town door by door to make sure no one's left, hiding from us."

He swept his gaze over the soldiers, looking at the gaps in the formation where missing, wounded or dead soldiers used to stand.

"How of you have wounded partners?" A significant portion of the soldiers raised their hands.

"Unfortunate, but at least they're not dead. I don't think we'll encounter many, if any monsters, but I'd still like everyone to work in pairs, for safety. If you don't have a partner for now, find someone else who doesn't and team up."

With the administrative stuff dealt with, he unfolded the crudely sketched map of the town from before and pointed to the east side.

"We'll be responsible for this part of town, where the old courthouse and barracks are. We'll sweep from the plains to the center in two waves, with the second one being there in case the first missed something. People still able to fight will go in the first group, mages and exhausted soldiers will go in the second. I don't want to risk people getting sloppy from fatigue. Any questions?"

No one came forth, so he closed the map and set them at ease.

"You've got ten minutes to get a partner, then we're heading out. If you don't have one, raise your hand. Dismissed!"

Garret raised his hand and looked around. Lots of potential teammates were here, but they were wasting no time pairing up. Who would he be best suited to work with? More importantly, was there anyone here he knew? Though he'd probably made more acquaintances in the last two weeks than he would've in a year back in Northreach, he was still antisocial at heart and would rather work alone than be forced to interact with another unfamiliar soul. He searched desperately through the crowd. … no one. There wasn't a single person here that he was familiar with.

Suddenly a certain green-brown robed and very tired looking sorcerer tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey. Want to work together?"

It took a moment for Garret to recognize him as the earth mage from before, and his sudden appearance caused him to stumble over his words.

"Ah, uh,… sure?"

He was as close to 'familiar' as he was going to get.

"Excellent! Oh, please, allow me to introduce myself."

He thrust a hand forward, which Garret shook once he regained his composure.

"Nathan White."

"Garret Fax."

The (surprisingly cheerful) man nodded and continued.

"I assume you're just as tired as me and have no objections to being in the second sweep?"

He was and did not.

"Great. Well then, Garret, let's go hunt some monsters."

* * *

"Hooooly, that's a lot of bodies."

When they reached the edge of town, Nathan let out an impressed whistle. As the rising sun illuminated the fields and roads around it, a vast scene of carnage was displayed to them. The grounds were covered in broken wagons, scorch marks from spells, embedded arrows, and a sea of mamono corpses. Blood stained the grass red and, having mixed with the mud and rain, flowed into pools wherever it found a low spot. The monsters fighting in the town had managed to buy enough time for the other civilians to start to evacuate with whatever possessions they could carry. Needing every fighter they had to stall The Order, though, forced them to leave the train of refugees unguarded with disastrous result. As they surveyed the field, Garret picked out a few of the different monster types. A kikimora here, a danuki there… a couple lamia, an occasional holstaur… None of these monsters were well suited for combat, so the ease with which the soldiers in the fields had slaughtered them was unsurprising. The men that these monsters gravitated towards didn't tend to be combat effective either and had met the same fate. Garret didn't think he spotted a single fallen soldier of The Order amongst the dead.

"Our soldiers certainly did their job."

"Yup. And good fuckin' riddance." Nathan spit towards the bodies.

"You're from Northreach, aren't you?"

"Yup! How could you tell?"

Garret half-smiled. That display of xenophobia would have looked extremely out of place among the more moderate Natonian soldiers.

"Lucky guess."

They had to wait another half hour for the first group to get organized and head out before the second could even consider starting – something that was good because it allowed Garret and Nathan to recover a bit more of their strength, but irritating because it meant more time away from Annika. As Garret placed back and forth, impatiently, Nathan couldn't help but tease him a bit.

"Garret, you're making me tired just looking at you. Sit down, we've got time."

He kept pacing anyways.

"I just want to get this over with."

"Wounded partner?"

Nathan correctly guessed the source of his anxiety and he nodded.

"I don't like being away when she's that badly injured, even if it isn't life threatening."

"Could you do anything for her if you were there?"

Garret was forced to admit that, no, he couldn't.

"Then relaaaaax. She'll be fine."

"Maybe… but aren't you worried? Your partner's wounded too, right?"

That caused Nathan to laugh.

"No, she's dead. Nearly got cut in half by a minotaur."

Shit, then what was he doing here? The comment took Garret aback and he fumbled with his words, not really sure what to say.

"Oh. uh… I'm sorry?"

Nathan shook his head. "Don't be. We didn't get along."

One of the ways The Order tried to counter the mamono's influence was to assign everyone a battle partner based on compatible personalities. The idea was that by living, eating, sleeping and fighting together, the two would forge close bond, either romantic or platonic. They'd be less likely to be lured away from a close friend or lover by a mamono temptress than from acquaintances. It also had the added benefit of increasing unit cohesion and covering each gender's weaknesses as well, so that decree quickly became widely adopted. Evidently, though, it was not always successful in its match making.

"Uh… well if you're ok, then…"

"I'm more than ok. Let's just focus on our job."

* * *

The first house they searched was almost completely empty. Its occupants must have been responsible for one of the carts on the road because aside from furniture, there was almost nothing of value in the house. What little had been left, like tools or heavy clothes, were too bulky to be taken with them, and too heavy for The Order to loot. They did a quick search to see if anyone was hiding under the bed or in a wardrobe, but found no one, and moved on to the next house.

The second one was a mess, it's stone walls and sturdy construction had allowed a dwarf and her husband to barricade themselves in a back room, probably hoping for a mamono victory in battle. Said barricade hadn't stopped the first search team, though, and the remnants it, as well as the blood of the house's inhabitants, were scattered across the floor. Behind the house, a small forge had been set up for the dwarf to ply her trade, but nothing here was valuable loot for a soldier. There were no weapons and the majority of her work seemed to be for domestic use. They dumped the bodies out onto the street for disposal later and, after a brief search, continued on.

The next building, a small candy shop, caused Nathan to laugh when he entered.

"Heh. Hey Garret, take a look at this!"

The shop only consisted of three rooms, the sales room, the storage room, and a kitchen for manufacturing the candy or cooking food. Behind the counter was a massive pot holding the flower where an alraune and her husband lived, though 'lived' was definitely past tense here. Both the alraune and her husband were slumped against each other, neither of them breathing. In each of their hands was a partially eaten deathcap mushroom. They must have decided to die together once they realized the battle was lost, rather than wait for The Order to kill them. An alraune couldn't exactly run after all. Garret checked the pulse of the incubus to make sure he was really dead, before announcing what they both already knew.

"Suicide."

"Some problems just take care of themselves, eh?"

"Nice of them to do that for us."

Now it was Garrett's turn to spit on the corpses. Had it been any other monster, he might have felt a little sympathy for them, but not an alraune. They dumped the husband outside and painstakingly dragged the pot out as well, where Garret cast a spell to set the alraune's corpse on fire.

"That's for what you did to Rin…"

The remaining houses were pretty unremarkable. Most were empty, a couple showed signs of a struggle, and some even had a bit loot, but for the most part, their job of being a second set of eyes was unpleasantly redundant. These houses didn't have many, if any places to hide that wouldn't been found in the first sweep, and all this was doing was keeping him away from his partner. Nathan didn't have any objections to picking up the pace, so their searches of the remaining buildings became a bit less thorough as they rushed through them.

The last building to search was the old barracks, weather worn and with a few cracks in the walls, but still serviceable. Inside, the oil lanterns hanging from the walls illuminated their surroundings, giving them enough light to see around the large, stone building. Juxtaposed to the traditional, utilitarian design of a military building, the walls here had colourful banners decorating them, and the floor had several vibrant rugs. None of these adornments were of particularly high quality, but they gave the building a cheerful feel – a cheerfulness somewhat marred by the presence of a slain dark priest in the corner and a few blackened spots on the walls where spells had impacted.

"Looks like she tried to stand and fight."

"Mhmm."

Unlike the barracks back in Nation, this one only had a few separate rooms. The soldiers would have slept together here in bunk beds rather than having their own space. When they left the common area and searched the sleeping quarters, they found it had also been decorated. Beds had colourful stripes painted on the worn, wooden poles, and the typically plain sheets had been replaced with hand-made quilts. Garret kicked open one of the foot lockers and found a few sets of children's clothes in it, as well as a handful of wooden toys. Some of them were your typical fair like wooden soldiers or horses, but others were far, far too 'adult' for what a small child should be playing with.

"A nursery?"

"Or an orphanage. If we're half as good at killing monsters as I'd think we are, they'd certainly need one."

Nathan picked up one of the more _unusual_ toys, then tossed it away, disgusted.

"I really shouldn't be surprised… but somehow I am."

"I guess they train their daughters early."

"Disgusting monsters…"

The last two rooms were a makeshift kitchen-dining combination room and a storage room. The only thing of interest in the kitchen was that a significant amount of food remained in the cupboards and hadn't been taken with them when they fled. If a priest cleansed it, that might be a boon for the soldiers – having something other than hard tack to eat was always welcome. The storage room was similarly uninteresting, full of crates and barrels, but the first wave had probably already searched them and Garret didn't feel like spending an hour rummaging through the boxes.

With this being their last building, and its resident having already been dealt with, they hustled out the door after a quick sweep. Garret wanted to get back to Annika and Nathan looked similarly enthusiastic about the idea of wrapping up, though he was probably looking forward to a nap more than anything. After a quick check in with the sergeant and one final formation, they were finally released for a bit.

* * *

Annika greeted him with a half-hug when he returned. One of the priests had come earlier, she explained, and healed her ribs. Her arm was still splinted and heavily bandaged, as were her legs, but she could at least talk normally now. That made him smile, happy that she was on the mend.

"So what was the big emergency?"

Garret sat on the edge of her cot when she moved over to make some space.

"Nothing too serious. We searched every building for hiding monsters and secured the area. The sergeant put me in a secondary group, so everything was already dead by the time I got there. I should have just stayed with you."

That caused Annika to laugh. "Well, ya did your duty. At least we know we're safe now. … So tell me! What did I miss?"

"Miss?"

"When I crashed into the house. How'd the battle go?"

At Annika's prodding, he recounted the events she was absent for the best that he could. There wasn't really much to tell, just a few times when the line broke where he had to help suppress the monsters surging forward, and their clean up once the monsters had been routed. For lack of anything else to talk about, he also gave a quick overview of what they found on the plains and their uneventful search operation.

"It was strange though, only finding one monster in the barracks. Especially after all the children had left. Why stay?"

Annika shrugged as best as she was able.

"Maybe she didn't? Did you see any priests during the fight? Maybe she hid there for the battle or got separated from her convent."

"Hmmm, maybe…"

The two chatted together for a while before a familiar pair pulled back the medical tent's flap and wandered in. It was Eric and Aisha, uninjured, but clearly searching for someone.

"Ay, Garret! Annika! You made it!"

When Eric spotted them, he shouted a greeting across the room and began making his way over. Annika's cot, long though it may be, was starting to get pretty crowded now that there were three additional people sitting on it.

"Tell me, Annika, do your wounds still hurt? We were so worried when you got dropped to the dirt."

Despite her words, the rhyme betrayed that Aisha had actually been pretty confident she'd survive. Annika played along, though, and waved away the concern.

"I'm fine. Got a few broken bones, but the priests can fix that."

"See, she's a tough girl, I told you she'd be fine."

"I hope they don't leave you with broken limbs, your chances in battle would be quite slim."

"Eh, they'll get to me once they heal the others."

Annika pointed to a soldier on the other side of the tent for emphasis. The woman had been slashed across the gut, straight through her armour. Priests and chirgeons had been kept busy for hours, trying to save her life, though it seemed like they had finally managed to heal enough to stabilize her. Compared to things like that, she was a low priority.

Moving on to a different topic, Garret brought up the search party.

"Did you find anything in your sweep, Evan? Aisha?"

Evan nodded enthusiastically and Aisha looked similarly pleased with herself.

"We found a whole cabinet full of liquor! Beer, sprites, vodka, the works!"

Aisha looked like she was about to drool, thinking about it.

"They looked so good… and they're safe to drink! No prisoner fruit, no demon energy, no nothing!"

"We can crack 'em open tonight. I think we all deserve a reward for a fight well fought."

Garret smiled as the two alcoholics recounted the tale of their spoils, but that wasn't the only thing he wanted to know about.

"That's nice and all, but I meant monsters. It seemed like the town was pretty cleared out."

The pair nodded in agreement.

"Not much. We found a succubus, lesser of course, hiding in a cellar but that was about it."

"Cellar? But there's no keep here."

Annika spoke up, confused. Garret was likewise puzzled, and Eric and Aisha joined the confusion, not understanding why the two from Northreach thought it strange.

"Well more like a pit than anything. It's pretty common for houses to have a hole under them to store meat or milk. The soil keeps it cooler."

"Do you not have these in Northreach?"

Garret shook his head with a half smile.

"Our whole damn country is an icebox, and in the summers, we just do without. Only castles and large fortifications have them. "

"Hmm, strange."

* * *

After a call for lunch was made and the soldiers chowed down in their rations, they were again organized into working parties to collect the corpses from the town and drag them out onto the fields to be burned. It was eventually going to be reoccupied after all, and the bodies didn't make it seem too welcoming. The work was grim but unfortunately necessary.

Throughout the job, Garret's mind kept wandering. Why had only one mamono been there?

He slung a body into his shoulder and hauled it over to a wagon.

If she fled battle, shouldn't she have taken her husband with her?

He tossed the monster into the wagon with a sickening thud.

And if she was alone, why was there only one monster in a building of that size?

This body was covered in blood and still wet. He gritted his teeth and he picked it up trying to avoid getting any on him.

It was a nursery and most of the food was still there. Maybe she came back for it?

Another thud, another body dealt with.

Maybe there was something he missed… or maybe he was thinking too hard about this.

If nothing else, the intrusive thoughts distracted him from thinking about exactly what he was carrying, so he didn't mind them too much. It was only after the job was over that he wanted them to disappear. A few hours later, it was time for dinner (at least, for those who kept their appetite after the corpse clearing), but they kept pestering him throughout it. Did they miss something? The whole thing seemed strange. ... But after a couple hours of intensely scrutinizing anything, of course he'd find stuff that seemed strange. Life was strange. Just ignore it, Garret, it's fine…

* * *

After dinner, the tents in the old camp were torn down and set up again in the town's main square (recently cleaned of blood and gore by a wizard). Someone had originally suggested that the soldiers sleep in the town houses, but the officers wanted to keep everyone as close together as possible. At least the buildings around the square allowed them to suspend some canvases to shield their tents from any more rain, and the stone meant they wouldn't be sinking into the mud like this morning. Guards got posted around the town's perimeter and also at the immediate edges of the square once it began to get dark, but fortunately neither Eric, Aisha, Annika, or Garret had been given those assignments.

Later in the evening, Annika was healed by a priest, putting her back in fighting shape. Seeing that the whole group was mobile now, Eric took this as a sign to begin their celebration and invited them for drinks.

"I'll met you there in a bit, I need to do something."

"Want me to come with?"

"Nah, it's fine, Annika. It's nothing too important."

As the rest of the gang headed to Eric and Aisha's tent, Garret announced his temporary departure. The mystery of the barracks was still bothering him, and he knew he wouldn't be able to truly relax until he checked it one last time.

* * *

The building was quiet. Empty. Just like the way he had left it. Garret eased the door open and slowly crept inside. Even though he knew it would be vacant, his paranoia got the better of him and forced him to sneak around. The barracks was at the exact half-way point between the two guard postings, so if a monster ambushed him, he doubted they'd be able to hear his shouts. Not that there would be a monster, though, they had already searched the buildings and found them clear. This was just him indulging in a bit of paranoia. No harm doing that, right?

The oil lamps had finally burned out, so he produced a flame to see where he was walking as he slowly crept around. He flipped over the carpets of the common area, checked under a table and examined the walls… nothing. Of course there would be nothing, Garret, you're wasting your time fumbling around in the dark.

Despite that thought, he kept going. The sleeping quarters set Garret on edge when he searched it, the long shadows cast by the bunk beds, combined by the fact that he didn't have the energy to illuminate more than a few feet with his 'torch', gave the room a terrifyingly creepy atmosphere. Was that flicker from his fire sputtering, or from something moving? Was there something hiding in that shadow? What was that tiny reflection he saw in the distance? A metal latch? Or the eyes of a monster? Despite the surroundings pushing his paranoia into overdrive, he found nothing unusual in this room. No hidden switches or concealed doors, no monsters under the bed, and nothing hiding in the foot lockers. Taking a deep breath, Garret put the creepy bedroom behind him and headed into the kitchen.

Again, he found nothing of interest. He searched the cupboards and drawers one last time and even took a look up the chimney of the fireplace, but the room was just as empty as it was when he first searched it. That just left the storage room.

Boxes, barrels and more boxes were what awaited him, as did the tedious process of unstacking, searching and restacking them. He doubted the village had any fairies in it, but if it did, they'd probably be drawn to the children… and were small enough to hide in any of these crates. There wasn't much of interest, though, just generic dry goods that were, thankfully, monster free. The barrels were similarly uninteresting. Most were filled with water, though two had lamp oil in them. When he moved the last one, though, from the back corner of the room, he spotted something interesting. Beneath it, barely visible with the barrel on top, was a trapdoor allowing access to (presumably) one of the pit-cellars Eric had spoken about.

"… Son of a bitch."

That was the perfect place to hid monsters, he'd bet a month's wages there were mamono down there. It also explained the presence of a single dark priest in the building. Someone would have to stay behind to arrange the boxes, sacrificing themselves to protect the others. He frowned. Monsters were hedonistic and undisciplined, behaving altruistically seemed strangely out of character for them… but it was the only theory he could think of that fit. It was more satisfying than Annika's, anyway.

Ok, so what was the plan? They'd have heard him walking around and moving the crates above them. If he left, they'd probably emerge and either attack him or run. He could call for guards, but they wouldn't hear him at this distance, and that would force the monster's hands. He could try to hold the door shut with a barrel, but they wouldn't have sealed themselves in with no way out… Monsters were physically stronger than humans, one or two of them could probably lift the trapdoor even if something was on it… If he opened it, they'd attack him immediately or try to run, and he probably only had the energy for a single combat spell… Shit, he was backed into a corner now. Damn it, he should have brought Annika, Eric, _someone_ with him.

He took a deep breath and looked around. At least he had time to think. The lamp oil barrels from before caught his eye. He grabbed the bar he had used to open the boxes and pried the lid off one of the full ones, before carefully walking it towards the trapdoor. Once there, he took a deep breath, steeled himself, and opened the hatch.

Dark energy from a spell flashed and a bolt of magic shot out of the hole the second he opened the door. Expecting an attack, he had remained off to the side, so he wasn't hit, but even so, that spell looked weak. Even if it had struck him, he doubted it would do much damage… but that meant there was someone down there. Immediately he extinguished his flame, then scrambled behind the barrel and heaved, tipping it and pouring its contents down the hole.

There was the telltale splash of the oil hitting the bottom, followed by a surprised shriek from a woman and various cries from… children? Oh no… When the smell started to waft around, whoever had cast the spell at the bottom recognized what they were now drenched in and immediately began to plead for their life. The panic in her voice only caused the children to cry louder, even more scared now that they knew their caretaker was terrified.

"No! No, please! Don't!"

Garret ignited a hand and, careful to keep it from accidentally setting off the oil vapors, used its light to peer down the hole. The 'cellar' was only about ten feet deep and wasn't too wide, but somehow the monsters had managed to squeeze a dark-priest, a kikimora, and a dozen or so terrified children into it – all now thoroughly soaked in oil.

"Please, sir, please! They're just children! Kill us if you must, but I beg of you, have mercy on them!"

The kikimora joined in pleading and the children looked up at him with fearful eyes, falling silent, but still frightened.

There was no mission they would threaten, and they had basically surrendered… He could let them go. No one would ever have to know. He had said before, 'no mercy for monsters', but burning children to death? Monster or not, that was something he balked at. Clean kills with a sword were one thing, but torturing them with a slow death? Was that something the Chief God would want? Their pitiful state didn't help either. In the dark, dripping with oil, they almost looked human, like the dirty, desperate refugees Northreach would sometimes take in when a region fell to monsters. Standing on the edge like this, he felt like an executioner, not a soldier.

"Please, sir! For love of all that is good, choose mercy!"

… In truth, though, the Chief God probably wouldn't care, and he shouldn't either. They were just monsters, right? It was his job to kill them, comfort wasn't a concern. He knew what would be expected of him the minute he signed up with The Order.

"… I made my choice long ago."

Garret was surprised at how simple it was. In the few stories he knew where heroes did something they might personally be conflicted about, there was usually some kind of physical force that they had to fight against, like their own body rebelled against their actions. There was nothing like that for him, though, no titanic test of willpower, he just flicked his hand forward, lazily, and the fire dropped into the hole. Condemning them to death was terrifyingly easy. After that, the fire was no longer his to control, the vapors ignited half-way down, and the oil coating the monsters and pooling on the floor followed soon after. The hard part was listening to the screams.

* * *

"Yo, Garret! You're late!"

"Sorry, we started without you."

Eric and Aisha waved to him when they saw him approaching their tent and Annika scooched over on a bedroll to give him a place to sit. On the ground between the three lay a collection of coloured bottles filled with all sorts of alcohol.

"So what's your poison? We got, uh… Thaemian brandy, Lestican wine, Blackwald vodka, uh…"

Eric waved his hand over the bottles and shrugged.

"We've got a lot."

"Got anything strong that doesn't taste strong?"

He laughed and handed him a bottle with a flower and honeybee emblazoned on it.

"Thaemian Brandy it is."

True to his word, the honey brandy barely tasted of alcohol but got his head swimming after only a few gulps.

"Hey, Garret."

He stopped mid-swig as Annika called to him.

"Hmm?"

"Cheers!"

She held her bottle up and clinked it with his. Eric and Aisha did as well, announcing in unison "For the glory of The Order!"

"Heh… Yeah. For the glory of The Order."

Garret cheered along with them, but couldn't help thinking that most of today was anything but glorious.

* * *

They were still on campaign so they couldn't get too drunk, but that didn't stop an impromptu duet from breaking out between Annika and Aisha once the group had a bit of a buzz going. Needless to say, the talent of one's singing greatly dwarfed the other's. Eventually, though, everyone needed to get to sleep, so Garret and Annika bid their friends a good night and headed back to their tent. When they arrived, though, instead of bedding down, Annika made herself comfortable and looked at Garret expectantly.

"Alright, let's talk."

Her sudden imperative made him look at her, confused.

"About?"

"Monster children. You said we'd discuss it later."

"Oh, uh… Sure."

That was probably the last thing he wanted to talk about, but he had promised her. He sat down on his roll then gestured for her to proceed.

"Go ahead."

"We could have let that girl go, Garret. We could have gagged her; she wasn't a threat to anyone."

He gave her a strange look. That was certainly something he disagreed with, not to mention something completely against the teachings of the Northreach priests.

"No? She was a monster. She's a threat just by existing."

"Not yet though. Until she matures, she's just a girl. We could have tied her up and let her go later. I don't think its right to kill a child, no matter their race."

He shrugged. It wasn't pleasant, but the age of a monster shouldn't matter. A monster was a monster.

"Maybe? But that doesn't solve anything. That just kicks the problem down the road five, ten years until some other Order soldier has to fight her when she's full grown."

Annika raised a finger.

"She could grow up to be like the centaurs. She might not ever attack humans."

"And maybe she'd go live on the moon! Come on, Annika, you've seen how they live, the chances of her turning out that way are close to none."

"Yeah, but is it right to judge her before she's even made that choice?"

"Is it right to endanger humans to give her that choice?"

Annika looked thoughtful for a moment, formulating an argument before carefully replying.

"I think the choice she makes is her sin, not ours. We're not at fault if she decides to attack humans, that's her decision. Her choosing to do something evil later doesn't make mercy now wrong."

"I don't think that's…"

The faces of the children in the cellar flashed before his eyes. All this talk was bringing back recent, unpleasant memories. Monsters in the hole… Killing them was the right thing to do, Garret was sure of that, but it wasn't easy… and someone arguing that he shouldn't have done that just made it even harder to swallow. Come on, Garret, don't think about that. This is war, you knew it had to be done. There was nothing wrong with a soldier doing his duty... right? He stared at the ground in front of him, rapidly losing his motivation to debate.

"Sorry, Annika, can we talk about something else."

She arched an eyebrow.

"I think it would be better to solve this now before we go any further. We just got started, is something bothering you?"

"I just…"

His pause and the topic at hand was more than enough for her to guess what the problem was.

"You found more children, didn't you?"

Garret hesitantly nodded.

"Yeah…"

"… And what did you do?"

The screams echoed in the back of Garret's mind. Horrible, tortured screams from voices far too young came as the fire engulfed the children. It intensified for a time, then slowly faded as one by one they either succumbed to the flames or screamed themselves hoarse before burning to death in silence. That memory, those sounds… Something told him they were going to stay with him for the rest of his life.

"I think, Annika, you already know what I did."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** That's the end of Act 1! Thank you everyone for sticking around so far, we've reached the 1/3rd mark of the story. Of course, I don't actually _know_ that only 66% of the story remains to be written, things might get shortened or extended depending on how things go, but I think, milestone-wise, this is a pretty good spot to mark an act transition. I've introduced most of the important characters at least once, and, I think, have given a decent overview of the key ideas that I'm going to cover in later chapters. Now, on to my commentary.

One thing that you commonly see is a dehumanization of enemies in stories. Since they're not the focus, you rarely see how the war/conflict/whatever affects them or get to know anything about them. I wanted to at least do a bit of that, though, which is why I went into detail about their search operation. You got to see one family that had packed everything and fled, only to be killed when The Order attacked the refugees. Another family, who didn't flee decided to kill themselves and die together painlessly rather than being hacked apart by swords. Then there was the dwarf who, despite being in a town full of fighter-monsters, didn't make any weapons or armour. Swords and shields would probably have fetched a decent price in a town with that population, so why not make them? Was she a pacifist? Garret certainly didn't care, but hmmmmm, the hints are there.

The other thing that I wanted to show was a scene that demonstrated the ruthlessness expected of a typical order soldier and how that affects them. I'm not entirely sure the way I did it here was the best, but I was in a bit of a rush to get this chapter out before my classes started (more on that later), and I think it's at least serviceable. Again, they're 'just monsters', and he was only doing what the Chief God would want him to do. As he said in his chat with Annika, they'd probably have to fight them in a few years anyways, so killing them now is fine… right? But is it really that easy to justify killing a bunch of children? Especially if they don't pose a threat to you, and your only way to do it is torturous for them? You probably already know the answer, but I'll write about that anyways in later chapters.

Speaking of Annika, I've tried to set up a bit of a consequential vs deontological dynamic with the pair. It's boring if everyone nods their head at the main character and agrees with them all the time, so I wanted some arguments to happen. Garret is entirely an 'ends justify the means' person, while Annika is on the other side of the coin. I don't really want this story to get bogged down in lengthy philosophical debates, but a page of dialogue here or there can be fit in, I think, and makes the characters a bit more fleshed out in their motivations.

Now, I mentioned that this chapter was a bit rushed, that's because I'm starting an intensive language course tomorrow (need it for my job) and won't have any time at all to write in the next month (maybe two). I wanted to get this chapter out before then, though, so please forgive some of the awkward writing here. Now, I know the reputation hiatuses get, with most authors just abandoning the story, but as I've said before, that's not going to happen. So uh… When you don't see a chapter for a month or two, let it be known that the delay is planned and not because I decided to stop writing.

Ok, that's all I've got, so once again, thank you everyone for reading. The favourites and follows stats keep ticking up so I must be doing something right.

Until next time, Sayonara!


	9. Day 25 - Progress

**Day 25 / Progress  
**

With the town clear, the soldiers of The Order found themselves with several days of free time to rest and recover while they waited for a new directive. Their sergeants ensured they made good use of it, by having them scavenge the town's food and practice light weapon drills during the day, but never assigned them anything too strenuous. During their training sessions, Garret often found himself facing Eric in sword-on-sword or when grappling, a competition the two thoroughly enjoyed. By the end of their break, he was starting to feel quite comfortable using a blade as a secondary weapon. During the evenings, Eric and Aisha seemed to have made it a goal to finish their looted alcohol before they were forced to abandon it, leading to some rowdy nights of drinking. After two days, though, it became clear that even with Garret and Annika's help, they wouldn't succeed, so he started inviting other soldiers to join them. One of these nights, Garret spotted Nathan and offered for him to come. The man, in contrast to his previous, cheerful mood, had a somber air about him and quietly declined.

"Thanks, Garret, but I don't feel like drinking tonight. "

His change in demeanor surprised Garret and reminded him of Catherine's behavior before she… disappeared. Needless to say, he was not about to let that happen again, so when the man turned to leave, Garret caught him by the arm.

"Are you ok, Nathan?"

The man nodded and flashed a grin, his cheerful attitude quickly returning. "One hundred percent! Sorry, I'm just pretty tired. Been practicing spells."

When Garret didn't look convinced, he waved a hand to brush off his concern. "Look, I'm fine. No demon energy in me, no strange poisons, nothing. I just overdid myself, that's all."

If anything, the man's insistence just made Garret _more_ suspicious, but eventually he let it go. "If you're sure."

"Garret, relax. I'm fine."

* * *

 **Day 30**

Eventually, their respite came to an end. One of the wizards attached to their officers received a scroll of orders via teleportation and by the next day they were moving out again. There were more monsters in the plains than expected, and the border guards were getting bogged down, trying to move up. Thus it fell to them, apparently the best performing unit, to spread out and clear the small hamlets and prairie houses that dotted the plains. More accurate charts were quickly drawn up, and groups of four to eight soldiers were dispatched to deal with the settlements.

* * *

As part of one of the smaller groups, Garret and Annika had the safer assignment, but a lot more ground to cover. A ranger and spellsinger had been attached to them, and together they were to clear a bunch of farmhouses, leaving the hamlets to the larger groups. With only one incubus, and one monster (maybe two if the man's love life was particularly scandalous) expected per house, the assignment wasn't too dangerous for them. Perhaps because of that, they had been given a dozen different houses to clear as opposed to one or two hamlets for the larger groups. They had a lot of walking ahead of them…

Like usual, the spellsinger's songs kept them moving at a rapid pace and combatted their fatigue, so despite Garrett's tenancy to complain whenever he had to march, it really wasn't that bad. As they jogged through the fog-covered plains under the orange light of the morning, he couldn't help but admire the scenery. Sure, it was just grass as far as the eye could see, but it felt peaceful. Calming. And it gave him a lot of time to think about how he would solve his conflict with Annika.

During their down time, when Garret could stomach it, they had debated at length the problem of what to do with monster children. While both made good points and begrudgingly acknowledged that the other had logic to their arguments, neither had been convinced to change their view. Friction was inevitable. He wasn't going to back down, and she wasn't going to either, but they were partners and loved each other… there had to be some sort of way to compromise.

When they crested a hill, they spotted a little, wooden house, with a small, tilled field beside it; Their first target. Being farmers, the incubus husband and his lesser succubus wife were already awake and hard at work, tending to their crops. Everyone dropped low and the spellsinger fell silent as they began to slowly creep through the grass. Engrossed in their work as they were, the monsters didn't notice their approach until an arrow embedded itself in the succubus' chest, followed quickly by another. The ranger cursed, having missed the headshot he was aiming for, and everyone stood up and broke into a sprint. His wife's shriek caused the incubus to look up, quickly spotting the charging soldiers. Unlike the incubi in the town, he was unarmed, but that didn't stop him from running towards his wife, his 'love' no doubt preventing him from leaving her behind. Crops and tilled soil were trampled as the man sprinted across the field. Transformed as he was, he was much faster than your average human, but had been caught off guard, with the soldiers having a head start. They reached the body at around the same time, which went about as well as you'd expect for an unarmed man facing a foot soldier and ranger. After quickly making sure they were dead, the ranger pointed to the house.

"Why don't you guys clear that? I can't use a bow inside."

Garret and Annika nodded in unison and headed for the door.

The interior of the house was basically what you'd expect a typical farmhouse to look like. Lots of homemade decorations, worn wooden furniture, and only two rooms besides the kitchen. Clearly no one was going to be in the common area this time of morning, so they quickly headed for the bedroom. Inside there, they found exactly what both Garret and Annika had been hoping to avoid. The double bed held a snoring succubus girl, evidently enough of a heavy sleeper that the screams outside hadn't woken her.

"Garret!"

Annika immediately grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, about to argue with him. To her surprise he shrugged and said.

"The house is clear, right?"

Her expression quickly morphed into one of confusion. Why was Garret playing by her rules now, without objection? His next words quickly clarified his stance.

"We alternate. This one is your house. I'll get the next one."

"Garret, I don't-"

"Do you want to race instead?"

Annika shook her head, unwilling to physically harm her partner to stop him, but knowing that, without armour, he would always be able to sprint faster.

"Could flip a coin."

"Garret this is… This is totally fucked up. We're leaving the lives of children to a coin flip, or to luck of alternating?"

He nodded, then raised a finger.

"Can you think of a better solution, Annika? I won't let them all go, and you don't want me to kill them. We compromise."

Annika initially shook her head but, after realizing it would probably be the only way to get some of what she wanted without destroying their relationship, reluctantly acquiesced. She hated herself for being this selfish, but she didn't want to lose him… even at the cost of a few children.

"Fine… We alternate."

On the way out the door, she grabbed a few sheets of parchment off a writing desk, along with a block of charcoal. She quickly scribbled "Clear" on the front of one of them, then flipped it over and wrote directions for how to escape on the back. Once outside, she pinned it over the door's window, hoping that the girl inside would see it, while dissuading other Order soldiers from searching the house again.

"All clear in there?"

"Yup, not a monster in sight."

As the spellsinger started her song again and the ranger began to march, Garret whispered something to Annika.

"You know the chances of her making it to the border are slim, right?"

She nodded.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that we gave her the chance."

"We probably just made an enemy for life, now that she knows The Order killed her parents."

"That's her choice to make. If she wants to waste her life on revenge, she can."

The discussion was about to turn into another ethics debate, so Garret let the issue drop. If nothing else, at least this made their working relationship less confrontational.

* * *

The next house was a similar fair, with a monster girl and husband working outside, though this time there were no kids indoors. It didn't seem like that was for lack of trying, mind you, there was a cradle that looked recently built with unused sheets folded in it in the bedroom, but it seemed that the happy 'couple' hadn't managed to fill it yet. Annika let out a sigh of relief once they found this out, before turning to Garret.

"This was your house. Next one is mine." She insisted, unnecessarily. Garret knew better than to try and weasel out of their deal by claiming 'no children doesn't count'.

* * *

A half hour later they arrived at a sod house, built into one of the small, rolling hills. The field outside looked like it had just been expanded, but there was only a single incubus working it. The ranger landed his headshot this time, and they proceeded into the house without incident. Inside, they found the whereabouts of the mamono wife. In the bedroom, a holstaur was breastfeeding an infant child. She scrambled backwards on the bed, clutching the kid to her, and shrieking from the fright of two soldiers kicking open the front door. Damn. Their comrades outside would have definitely heard that…

Garret conjured a quick ball of flame, while Annika leapt at them and forcefully covered both their mouths.

"Garret, you said-"

He let the fireball explode harmlessly against the wall with a loud bang, then brought his sword down on an imaginary enemy with a battle cry. The mamono seemed to understand what he was trying to do and bit her tongue to avoid whimpering.

"Listen, we're not going to hurt you, but you've got to leave. Wait a few minutes and run. If you make it across the border, you'll be safe."

The holstaur still looked terrified but nodded and let out a shaky 'thank you'. Garret hoped they'd be long gone before she realized what their presence meant for her husband. When they were back on the road, Annika tapped Garret on the shoulder and whispered her thanks in his ear. That had been Annika's house, and while the presence of a non-child monster meant technically, he'd be allowed to kill her, he knew there was no way the baby would survive more than a day without its mother. Annika would take issue with that.

"No problem. Just remember our deal…"

* * *

With three houses down, the group paused for a moment to catch their breath and eat lunch. Garret and Annika took the opportunity to perch themselves on the top of one of the hills, surveying the area. The sun was rising now, burning away the mist and illuminating the plains.

"Very pretty, eh?"

"Yeah… Not like the glaciers of Northreach. It's just a sea of green out there."

Annika chuckled at this.

"Very observant. Surely the name 'The Green Sea Plains' didn't give away any of that."

He laughed back at her good-natured teasing.

"Heh, I suppose."

She slung an arm around him and pulled him close.

"Sorry about what I make you do, Annika… But places like this are what we're trying to protect."

"I know you mean well, Garret, you aren't doing this out of sadism. …But I wish we saw eye to eye on this."

* * *

The fourth house was surprisingly large for a prairie house but had no one outside. The ranger and their spellsinger looked around suspiciously, suspecting an ambush, before deciding to hang back and cover the entrance to the house. Garret and Annika approached the front door slowly and cautiously. Every little sway of grass set them twitching. Were the monsters hiding in the field too? Or were they all still asleep? Had the holstaur they let go earlier warned them? Were they walking into a trap? The only way to find out was to slowly open the door.

The inside was more spacious than the previous houses they'd searched, with an additional room and a bit more furniture. Must belong to a 'lucky' man who found himself two 'wives'… They searched the inside, looking under the bed, inside closets, and behind chairs, but found no one. All the monster's belongings were here, though, so Garret doubted they'd fled or even left the premises. A flashback to the barracks reminded him of where to look. In the kitchen, 'hidden' under a sloppily thrown rug was a hatch to one of those basement cellars. When Annika pried it open, there was a shriek, followed by hushing.

"No, don't worry! It's them! They'll let us go, just quiet down before anyone else hears us!"

Garret peered over the hole and saw a kikimora, a kobold, their 'husband', and the holstaur (complete with baby) from before. He sighed and Annika let out a quiet "Oh no…". Then he ignited a fireball and cast it down at them.

"You had your chance to run…"

Relieved expressions turned to ones of horror as Garret threw fireball after fireball at them, the explosions amplified by the earthen walls containing them. Suddenly his vision flickered, and he heard the screams of children, before finding himself staring at the burnt remains of his victims back in the barracks. The flashback only lasted a second, but it was enough to cause him to stagger and bile to rise in his throat.

"Garret…"

"It's like we agreed, Annika… Every second house."

He looked down the hole again to see if anyone had survived, but only charred corpses returned his gaze. Seeing the corpse of the baby made his stomach churn, and he quickly had to avert his eyes. They're just monsters, Garret. Just monsters. You're fine.

* * *

The fifth house was home to a minotaur and her husband, with a pair of children playing in the common room. Fortunately, they didn't have to witness their parent's deaths outside, and Annika made sure they knew to wait until they left before trying to flee.

The sixth house was home to the lively family of weresheep. Unfortunately for them, their wool was highly flammable – a property Garret had no problems exploiting when he burned their triplets to death. Like usual, Annika didn't say much and left without a word after the job was done. When he was alone, Garret slumped against the wall and took a minute to collect himself. Just monsters. They were just monsters. It didn't matter that they looked, walked and talked like us, they were evil to the core. This was the moral thing to do. …Right?

Annika spared the children of the seventh house, and Garret used his sword to kill the baby they found in the eighth. In the ninth, they didn't find any children, but in the tenth, Garret lost his nerve. As they approached the house after killing the adults outside, they heard the shriek of a child. The scream caused Garret to stop in his tracks, and the faces of those he had killed rapidly flashed through his mind. No… No, pull yourself together, Garret. It has to be done! He stepped through the threshold and conjured a fireball… or at least, tried to. His thoughts kept drifting, and muffled, imagined screams echoed within his mind. Unable to concentrate, his fireball flickered weakly before extinguishing itself. With no other option, he ran through the kid with his sword, but, when she fell backwards, let the blade fall with her. He couldn't bring himself to pull it out, and quickly fled the house.

When his 'turn' came again for the twelfth and final house, with no sword and unstable emotions disrupting his casting, he shook his head and stood aside.

"You can have this one, Annika."

His partner looked surprised, but nodded and headed in. A few minutes later, she came out and signaled that the house was clear.

* * *

"You don't have to do this, Garret, I know it bothers you too."

When they were alone in their tent, back at the village, Annika brought up his hesitation on the last mission. He shook his head at her assertation, though. A soldier was strong. A soldier didn't have doubts. A soldier did what needed to be done. He couldn't let himself feel these things.

"No, it doesn't bother me… I'm fine. It's the right thing to do."

"Garret, I saw you shaking. You even left your sword behind."

She paused, waiting for him to respond, but he didn't. Garret kept staring at the floor, trying to shove away dangerous thoughts. Just monsters. They're just monsters…

"Come on, Garret, talk to me."

She stepped closer and put a hand on his arm. He flinched when she touched him and brushed her hand away.

"There's nothing to talk about, Annika. I'm fine."

He shook his head again, then kicked off his boots and laid down in bed. No weakness, Garret. You're strong. You can handle it. You're fine. … But was he really? After a moment of silence, he spoke again in a voice so quiet that Annika barely realized he was speaking at all. She was his partner and his lover. Maybe he had to be strong, but maybe… just maybe he could be allowed to open up a bit to her.

"… I just wish… I wish they didn't look like us… Some of them almost looked like a happy family…"

* * *

But they weren't a happy family! They were monsters! The husband was only there because he had been transformed, their children, only because of their mother's instinctive desire for unprotected sex. There was no family structure there, no true devotion. When he tried to sleep, nightmares kept waking him, horrible visions of half-burnt children repeating a single question over and over again: "Why?". He hardened his heart and steeled his mind, repeating this to himself over and over again. Their appearances were nothing more than psychological warfare – something to make The Order's soldiers less likely to do what needed to be done. It was all just one big illusion, right? There was no way this could be evil, right? Of course not. This was what was commanded of him by the Chief God, a flawless being of perfect morality! If he kept following her orders, he'd be ok. She'd reward him for this. Everything would be fine… right? Despite trying to convince himself of this, though, his sleep remained as fitful as ever. Maybe the nightmares would leave him once the campaign was over. He prayed that day would come soon… At least he didn't wake Annika this time, he didn't want to bother her with this.

* * *

 **Day 31**

"Good job, everyone, the way for the border guards is clear now. The other battle groups managed to take their towns as well, so we can move to reform the crusade. Pack your stuff, I want us marching before noon."

Early next morning, their officers called the troops to formation and delivered that order. Apparently, everything had gone off without a hitch. Then, they dismissed the soldiers, sending everyone scrambling to pack. True to their timetable, they (barely) managed to get underway before noon, though regrettably, that meant they were forced to eat their only partially palatable dry rations for lunch - the cooking tents were long-since dismantled. As usual, the magic of the spellsingers kept them marching at a rapid pace once they set off, though it still took two days to reach their rendezvous point.

At the end of the second day, they crested a hill and saw a grand forest laid out before them, with an equally grand mass of soldiers camped out at its edge. Hundreds of tents were lined up in the shade of enormous trees that towered into the sky, and scores of watch fires dotted the camp's perimeter where guards patrolled to keep the crusaders safe from ambush. Made sense… the forest, while beautifully lush and almost supernaturally tall, provided a near unlimited number of hiding spots for potential ambushers.

"Beautiful."

Beside him, Annika admired the immense forest, but Garret was stuck thinking of what could be lurking in the shadows. It wasn't like the forest the alraune were in, these trees were big enough that whole forts could be built into the canopy. Elves, Mantes, Dryads, all manner of tree-dwelling mamono no doubt awaited them…

* * *

"Psst! Hey! Hey Annika!"

While they were milling around after setting up their tent, an extremely cheerful looking Aisha ran up to them and thrust a beautiful, white-glowing flower into Annika's hands.

"This is for you!"

In her own hat, her usual large feather plume had been likewise replaced with a particularly large bloom.

"Oh, it's so pretty! Thank you, Aisha! Where'd ya find it?"

"I think it would be easier to show you. Come, come! Eric and I found a whole clearing of them when we were patrolling."

Annika looked at Garret, who shrugged and decided to join them. It was getting dark and would no doubt be dangerous to leave the camp, but since it seemed a certain girl was set on it, he'd rather they have a mage along with them.

* * *

After about ten minutes of pushing through underbrush, they arrived at the flower patch their friends had found. Apparently, their excursion wasn't going to be nearly as dangerous as Garret first thought. Eric was waiting for them, as were a handful of other soldiers, all silently watching from the edge of the tree line. It seemed a few ranger pairs had shown up too.

In front of them, the entire clearing was full of the luminescent, white flowers that basked them in a gentle, glowing radiance. Above the plants, clusters of fireflies danced and darted, their speckles adding to the beauty of the scene.

"Wow…"

Even Garret was impressed by the spectacle. He'd never seen flowers like this before. A couple fireflies darted close to him and he held out his hand experimentally. A few seconds later, he felt something land in it, the tell-tale yellow glow coming a moment later, revealing what it was. As the little bug crawled around his hand, Garret couldn't help but chuckle at the strangeness of the name. 'Firefly'. It really produced nothing like his fire, why not 'glowfly' or something?

"Whatchya got there, Garret?"

Annika spotted him holding his hand out and walked over. The bug lit up again as it crawled around.

"Aww, cute! I think it likes you."

"Heh, yeah, well that's enough of that." Garret smiled and shook his hand, causing it to fly off. "It's a beautiful place though, isn't it?"

"Mhmm…"

She edged a bit closer to him. Around the clearing, he couldn't help but notice other couples taking advantage of the atmosphere to cuddle or kiss in the dim light of the flowers. Though his pride would never let him admit it, the ambience even had him feeling a bit romantic.

"Hey, Annika…"

"Yes, Garret?"

"Thanks for… Thanks for staying with me."

He turned towards her, as she looked at him, the glow casting soft shadows across her face. He paused a moment, then pulled her into his embrace. She returned it, hugging him back tightly. Sensing her approval, he moved in for a deep kiss. Even if they disagreed, even if they fought, he wanted to show her that he loved her and that that would never change. The passion with which she kissed him back told him that she was of similar mind, putting him at ease. When they finished, they sat against a tree, arm in arm, just enjoying each other's warmth as they gazed over the flowers.

"I love you, Annika."

"Love ya too, Garret."

He smiled and squeezed her against him affectionately. With her in his arms like this, his troubles seemed to fade. So long as she was by his side, maybe, just maybe, he'd be ok.

* * *

The campaign into the forest turned out to be both better and worse than what Garret had been expecting. There were the occasional pitched battles against tribes of mamono, particularly groups of corrupted elves, but they weren't nearly as intense as the one they fought in the town. The fact that the full strength of the crusade was crashing through the forest helped matters too. They had spread out to cover a larger range, similar to how they acted on the plains, but no matter where you were, there were always a dozen or two soldiers within view, ready to run through the underbrush to help if you were attacked. Whenever a particularly tough pocket of resistance was met, the crusade would flow around and envelope them from all sides, snuffing the lives of those who stood in its path. That part was far more successful than Garret had dared hope. The problematic part was that he hadn't quite expected the sheer intensity of the guerrilla warfare that got waged against them. Snares were set that, if you didn't notice them, would yank you high into the canopy in a split-second to be kidnapped by monsters lurking above. At night, stealthy raids on their camps were a constant occurrence, with the mamono often managing to steal one or two men before The Order could organize to hunt them down. The retrieval rate was also abysmally low for those who were dragged away. With so many hiding spots and such dense underbrush, the mamono just melted into the vegetation with their future 'husbands'.

Garret himself almost fell prey to this form of warfare. At one point, during the night, he had left his tent to relieve himself. As a courtesy to his fellow soldiers, he ended up leaving the camp, which proved to be a mistake. Getting out and doing the deed was uneventful, but when he looked up on his way back, he saw an enormous, feathered shape gliding silently towards him. He immediately shouted and conjured a pair of flaming spears, bracing himself to fight, but when she realized her ambush was ruined, the owl-girl quickly fucked off and fled high into the canopy. That little event scared him enough, though, to prevent him from leaving their well-lit military camps when it was dark for the remainder of their time in the forest.

Despite the troubles with the ambushes and traps, though, the crusade was still winning. Against a smaller force, they might have gotten worn down in a battle of attrition, but, though Garret hated to say it, they had enough soldiers that these casualties just didn't matter. It was scary as hell for an individual and terrible for moral, but the officers and priests managed to hold them together. The sheer number of bodies they had meant that even if they lost more than ten a night, there would be almost no impact on their actual combat effectiveness. The only thing that slowed them noticeably was when they came across areas under dryad protection.

Dryads… They were a far bigger problem than The Order had anticipated. Sure, they mostly lived within trees and rarely came outside, but, when fully grown, their trees were absolutely immense. The army, for all its numbers, had no means of felling them, short of stopping for a day or two to dedicate itself to that one, single task – a delay they could not afford when they were under constant attack. One of the officers approached Garret and the other mages to see if they couldn't burn it, but they just laughed.

"Sorry, sir, but have you ever _seen_ someone light a bonfire? You need tinder for days, and lots of dry wood. That tree is going to be anything but dry, and with a dryad tending to it, we'd have to soak it in oil and expend all our energy just to get something started. Even then, it might not take!"

One of the more talkative mages put that suggestion to rest – something Garret was thankful for. A tree seven meters in diameter was not easy to burn by any means. Instead, they just marked the locations of suspected dryads on the map and resolved to send dedicated teams to them after, once they had recaptured their land.

* * *

They spent far too many days in that beautiful and terrifying forest for Garrett's liking. For every flowering grove or scenic clearing they found, they had two or more nights of terror, watching, waiting, and wondering if they were going to be the next soldiers to disappear. The attacks became less and less frequent, though, as the days went on. By the end of the second week of sweeping through the forest, only a few soldiers were being lost each day, and by the end of the third, that number was reduced to one or two. It seemed they'd either killed or driven off the majority of the monsters in the area. That just left the mountains…

When the powers that be declared the forest to be sufficiently safe (there was no way to root out _every_ mamono in a timely manner), they pitched their camp near its edge. One day was given to rest, after weeks of bushwhacking, they needed it, and two more were given to prepare for the next phase of their plan. The supply wagons were reorganized, and soldiers were gathered into small groups to review the basics of mountain warfare. Always watch above and below you, stay away from edges, watch out for rockslides, etc. As someone who hailed from a mountainous, northern country, most of it was already well known to Garret, though he did pay attention when they discussed formations for fighting. While the 'survival' part of their instructions seemed like common sense, battle tactics were always useful. Surprisingly, they even caught a few glimpses of their hero, Lukas, during this time. He checked the status of their preparations in person as he distributed his orders to the other officers.

* * *

 **Day 56**

"Mornin', Gents. Ladies. Let's get started." Early in the morning of the fourth day, the battle groups assembled, and their respective officers and sergeants briefed them on the task ahead. The mountains had been surveyed before the monsters took over, and only a small section had been deemed suitable for habitation – either by humans or mamono. The rest, while they might have the occasional cave, were too rocky, too step or too barren for any significant populations to set up shop. That meant they'd only have a relatively small area to sweep – a godsend if the plans Garret overheard were anything to go by. The difficult terrain and the myriad caves they'd need to search meant that even this small section would take weeks to properly clear. Unfortunately, that probably meant every mountain dwelling monster was probably concentrated in that area, too…

"… So that's how it's going to be. A vanguard will push through the valleys and mountain roads, while the groups behind it will comb the mountains for caves and rout out any monsters they find. Having recognized our performance on the plains, our hero and his officers assigned us to be in the advance party. Any questions?"

Like usual, no one did. Their orders were pretty straightforward.

"Excellent. Then, everyone, stand at ease. We'll be moving out shortly."

* * *

"Careful… Don't be fallin' now."

Though they had been spared the tortures of having to climb an _entire_ mountain, the Northreach battle group had been assigned to advance along some paths at higher elevations – narrow, winding roads that could barely be considered passable. When the wind picked up, the ranger leading Garret's squad urged caution as they crept along the edge of a cliff. On one side was sheer rock, on the other was a hundred-foot drop, and the path between them was treacherous and narrow. A rock gave away when Garret took a step forward, causing him to shout involuntarily as he stumbled towards the edge.

"Got ya!"

Just in time, Annika grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back. It took him a minute of pressing himself as hard as he could against the stone wall for Garret to get his nerve back, but once he did, he nodded his thanks and continued creeping forward. Above (and below) them, other squads from their battle group moved along parallel paths, the ones above them occasionally showering them with rocks when someone's footing slipped. Fortunately, the monsters left them alone here.

When the terrain flattened out a little and became less dangerous, though, the battles began in earnest. With commanding views of the entire valley from these mountains, it was impossible for the crusade to remain hidden. The monsters were ready for them. Goblins skittered across rocks, lunging at soldiers from all sorts of odd angles, and orcs, in numbers far greater than what they saw in town, swarmed out from caves. Their numbers aside, though, these lesser mamono weren't too much of a problem. The truly scary parts were when oni and ogres joined the fight.

For ferocious monsters, they showed a surprising amount of restraint, refraining from sending men flying off the cliffs with swings of their clubs, despite being more than capable of doing so. When a man (or woman) was not in danger of falling, though, they showed no mercy, pummeling aside all defenses with their immense strength and shrugging off attacks, before grabbing their chosen quarry and dragging them away. The more lustful of their number didn't even leave the battle entirely. Ogres had the particularly unpleasant tendency to drag their men behind a rock for cover, rip their armour off with their bare hands, and mount them on the spot. They'd ride their men until exhaustion which, given their ferocious demeanor, didn't take long, before jumping right back into the fight to find another. In such a way, the monsters here followed the traditional expectation of not killing humans, only corrupting or kidnapping them.

The one saving grace to this was that the powerful mamono were few in number. Orcs and goblins were plentiful, but undisciplined – proper formation fighting could fend off or slay them, but if there had been more than a handful of Oni or Ogres present, they would have been in huge trouble. Instead, they slowly wore down their opponents. A cut here, a gash there, the occasional arrow piercing or spell-burn… none of these would stop a rampaging Oni on their own, but over time they built up, taking their toll and weakening them enough for the humans to eventually land killing blows. Slowly but surely, the soldiers pushed them back.

The battle was not without its cost, though. While there were almost no fatalities caused by desperate monsters defending families, there were a lot of non-lethal casualties. The men captured, even once retrieved, were in no shape to return to combat, having been battered and bruised by the not-so-tender ministrations of their assailants. The women, likewise, needed to be rushed to priests to prevent them from turning, taking them out of the fight. Others, by nature of what a massive club tended to do when it hit the body, were wounded or concussed. There was only so much their armour could do to soften said blows. That was how Garret ended up fighting on his own.

When their squad advanced over some uneven terrain, a high orc leapt at them from a ridge above. She swept the flat of her axe across the line with tremendous force sending several of them flying into a rock-wall with a loud crash. In response, Garret flashed his fire, burning a significant amount of energy on flame gouts and blazing spears. His magic wounded the monster and apparently convinced her that this squad was not worth her time. Rather than charge through the flames, and try to withstand the magical onslaught, she leapt away. Some other poor souls would have to deal with her. Unfortunately, though, the damage had already been done. Annika was dazed and confused, having struck her head rather badly, and two other swordsmen had broken bones. Though they still had enough people to be combat effective, the squad had to temporarily retreat and drag their wounded members to safety.

When they found shelter behind a crag, Garret helped his partner remove her helmet and check her condition. Her words were slurred, and she had a rather large welt on her head. She was probably going to need a priest to heal that concussion but was in no danger of dying on them.

"Are you going to be ok, Annika?"

"Yeah... I'm… I'll be… I'll be fine. Go."

* * *

Once he was sure she would be alright, he rejoined the rest of their squad and they headed back into the fray.

Several hours later, the crusade pushed on. Everyone was tired and bruised, but moral was high. The most intense fighting of the day was (hopefully) over, and once they reached the valley between the current and the next mountain, they'd be able to set up camp and get some much-needed rest. Here and there, small orc or goblin villages were discovered (then butchered), and occasionally a hungover oni who missed the initial fighting showed up, but that aside, the day's operations seemed to be winding down.

As part of the vanguard, Garret was one of the soldiers first to reach their objective. As they arrived, the individual squads of Northreach soldiers reformed their battle group and began to sweep through the brush-filled valley. Surprisingly, once off the mountain, they didn't encounter anymore monsters. The valley was completely empty… Strange. It was no matter, though, with their stopping point monster free, all they needed to do was advance a little way up the next mountain to secure their immediate surroundings, and they'd be done. Then he could finally rest and be reunited with Annika. When they advanced up the slope, though, they received an unpleasant reminder that the Mamono had no interest in making things easy for them.

"Rock slide!"

One of the soldiers spotted a stone crumbling and called the alert. Everyone scrambled to the side, avoiding it and the rush of earth that followed.

"Another one!"

Sure enough, just ahead of them another boulder fell, about to crush a soldier who hadn't moved fast enough. A flash of magic came from behind Garret, though, and it paused in mid-air, giving the man enough time to scramble out of the way and avoid a grisly fate. He looked back, wondering where that came from and saw Nathan a few paces away, hunched over and panting. Mentally, he took note of the man's work. He'd saved that soldier's life.

To their right, another boulder came tumbling down the mountainside, but wasn't close enough to them to be a danger. Three rock slides in the span of a few minutes, though? The soldiers looked around, bewildered. That wasn't normal, something was wrong here. Then they heard the skittering of many legs. From the spots where the rocks fell, cave entrances opened up and dozens of Arachne poured out from each of them.

"Retreat, retreat! Everyone, get the fuck back! Rangers, Mages, cover the soldiers!"

Seeing the ambush they had walked into, their sergeant shouted orders to them, trying to get his men to safety. Outnumbered and with mamono bearing down on them from all sides, they wouldn't stand a chance here.

"Look out! String!"

The monsters came to a stop, almost as one, and thrust their spinners forward, spraying thick shots of spider web over the fleeing soldiers. Garret quickly responded by throwing out blasts of fire as wide and as far as he could. He incinerated swaths of the falling thread, but there was only so much he could do… though he only needed weak blasts of fire, expanding them this much rapidly left him drained, and there was just so much of it. For every group he saved, another got caught in the thread and dragged away. Then, when he turned to help someone else, the people in the group he 'saved' got snared and dragged as well. The other mages tried to help, but force fields or energy rays, while better than nothing, were far less effective than dedicated flame magic. With this many monsters attacking at once, all they could do was delay the inevitable. Soon, Garret found himself alone and overextended, with everyone ahead of him captured, and everyone behind him having frantically scrambled away. Now the spiders only had one target in their immediate vicinity and both they and Garret knew it.

He turned to run, throwing blasts of fire as he did. He was almost out of energy, but he could still move! He scrambled over rocks as quickly as he could, pushing through his fatigue, not caring that the sharp stones tore up his hands. Thread fell around him and a piece landed on his shoulder. Before he could be reeled in, though, he managed to burn it and kept running. For a moment, he believed he could make it, but then he came to the edge of a short ledge and had to jump. In mid-air, he felt something wrap around his feet and yank them out from under him, causing him to tumble face first into the dirt. His head collided with a rock, hard, and the world went dark. The last thing he felt before completely passing out was the sensation of being dragged along the ground.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** See, I'm a man of my word. Firmly within the 1-2 month range, but updated none the less. Sorry about making you guys wait so long, I'm extremely busy. That's going to continue to be a thing for the foreseeable future, so I think this is how my update schedule is going to go from here on out. Damn, I was hoping to be able to stick to a 2-3 week turn around time when I first started this story, but that's clearly not going to happen. Anyways, enough of me complaining about my schedule, on to the commentary.

I didn't really have any sort of grand vision for this chapter, it was more of a utility one, moving the plot from point A to point B. I included the scenes of the house clearing because I wanted to continue to reinforce the idea that Garret is capable of doing a lot of terrible things if he thinks his orders/religion/philosophy justifies it, but that he isn't without second thoughts. Towards the last houses, as the weight of the children he's killed drags at his conscience, he has to fight himself to keep doing what he, intellectually, thinks is correct, but can't quite wholly believe. Sure, he 'knows' that monsters are evil and irredeemable (according to The Order), but... are they? On the surface, it certainly doesn't look like that. The other thing I wanted to do with this part of the chapter was to show how the conflict between Garret and Annika's philosophies got resolved... at least for now, and how Garret was not the only one forcing themselves to do something. Annika thinks of herself as a good person, and definitely doesn't want monster children to die, even if they are technically enemies, but her love for Garret pushes her to override that at least some of the time.

The battles that happen in this chapter aren't important to the overarching message and plot I have planned out for this story, so I skipped over most of them, giving a Wikipedia-style summary of what happened. They're important in that they _occurred_ , and I thought were useful for doing a bit of world building (showing how battles might be fought in different environments), but really, the details don't matter too much. The only thing of importance was getting Garret away from Annika in preparation for the next chapter. If I gave them the same treatment as the village, we'd be here for years before I got the plot where I wanted it to be.

Ok, that's all I've got. Not too many big ideas to dissect, this chapter. I see we're about to crack 6,000 views, that's 6,000 moments in people's lives I've wasted on shitty MGE fan fiction. What are you doing?! Go do something productive!

No, but seriously, though, thank you everyone for continuing to follow along, it's great to know people are enjoying this. Hate to leave y'all on a cliff hanger for the next 1-2 months, but... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Until next time, Sayonara!


	10. Day 57 - Spiderwebs

**Day 57 / Spiderwebs**

When Garret came to, the first thing he noticed was that he'd been stripped naked and completely bound and gagged by a cocoon of thread. The second was his splitting headache, and the third was that _something_ was carrying him. Garret remained limp and tried to pretend like he was still unconscious. Ow… His head felt like it was in a vice… even if he wanted to cast and free himself, he doubted he'd be able to focus on a spell. He needed to lay low and pretend like he was still out. Maybe they'd leave him alone long enough for his migraine to disappear.

With a soft thud, whatever was carrying him swung him off its shoulder and onto a mound of… something. Garret momentarily tensed, surprised by the sudden movement. Was he about to be discovered? A few minutes passed, and it appeared the answer would be 'no'. It seemed he had just been placed here for safekeeping. Experimentally, he tried to ignite a hand, but his head throbbed and severed his connection to the magic, confirming his suspicions. It seemed he had to play the waiting game. At least, somehow, the thread didn't inhibit his breathing.

As minutes (maybe hours? He couldn't tell.) passed, _things_ came and went, dropping more bodies on the pile. Garret assumed they were arachnae, but with his vision blocked and hearing impeded, there was no way to know for certain. The fear of the unknown, the dark, and his helplessness without his magic lead to a very tense period of time as he laid here, wondering what his fate would be. Beneath him, he occasionally felt something squirm, probably another bound person, but most of the bodies on the pile had either exhausted themselves while trying to escape, or had simply given up.

Another hour (?) crept by, but Garrett's headache showed no signs of subsiding. Damn, maybe he'd actually damaged something up there… he'd need to get the priests to look at it once he got back. If he got back. A thirst began to creep up on him, and the fear he had felt before was starting to be replaced by restlessness. How long were they planning on keeping them there? Perhaps he shouldn't have asked. Soon after, the sound of voices approaching signaled his wait might be at an end.

"That's all of them, then?"

"Yes, mistress. Um, I-I think so."

"My dear, you need to be more assertive. You've got a long way to go if you wish to truly become one of us… now let's try it again. Is that all of them?"

"Yes, mistress!"

"Much better. What do you think, Charlotte? Not bad for our first catch."

"Took them long enough to get here... I thought The Order would've had more balls than to wait years to counterattack."

A fourth voice joined the conversation.

"But our little trap has finally paid off… we caught more men in a day than we would have in a year back home."

"Mmmm… and they'll keep coming. I know The Order. They won't leave their friends behind."

The sound of chitin on rock filtered through the web as one of the arachne began to move towards them.

"A good catch indeed…" The first arachne's icy voice came from directly above. She must be standing right over top of him.

"Now tell me, Ilona, which one was that fire mage?"

Fear immediately surged through Garret and he broke out into a sweat. If he could cast, a cocoon wouldn't hold him… but they knew that too. They'd be sure to deal with him first! He reached for his magic again. If he was going to escape, it was now or never! _Throb._ As before, though, his head refused to cooperate… But the reply dooming him never came.

"… Ilona, I believe I asked you a question, darling."

"Uh. I-I, Uh…"

"Spit it out, dear."

"I-I-I forget, mistress."

There was a long pause.

"…I'm sorry, my dear, I didn't hear you. Could you repeat that?"

Her icy tone had been replaced with a much softer, more gentle voice, but somehow that just made it sound even more terrifying. Garret could have sworn he heard the other arachne audibly gulp.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry, mistress! I just put them all into a pile and forgot who went where!"

That statement caused relief to flood through Garret. Goddess bless you, you stupid fucking newbie. I'll kill you last!

"One more time?"

"I'm sorry! I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! It completely slipped my mind and I-KYAH!"

A loud slap cut her panicked apology short, causing even Garret to wince in sympathy. Poor girl.

"… You do realize what it means for us if he gets free, right?"

The other girl sniffled. "Y-yes, mistr-AH!"

Another loud slap interrupted her again, followed by an angry rebuke from her apparent superior.

"No, I don't think you do! If you understood, you would never have been so careless! You're worthless!"

 _Slap._

"Useless!"

 _Slap._

"You're not fit to call yourself an Arachne!"

 _Slap._ Wow… If she kept this up, she'd end up doing The Order's job for them…

Illona stopped replying, just sobbing softly as she accepted the abuse. After the 'mistress' had satisfied herself, she cooed to her in a soft voice.

"Oh no, don't worry my dear… It's alright... I don't blame you, I blame myself. I clearly didn't teach you well enough. But it's ok, after we deal with these men, I'll fix that."

Ilona just whimpered in reply. Something told Garret he didn't want to know what an arachne's 'education' involved.

"Now then, get to work. Your forgetfulness was dangerous, but once we get some venom in them, the mages won't be casting any time soon."

"Y-Yes, Mistress..."

"You too, Charlotte. Sabrina."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Garret's heart began to pound upon hearing the mention of 'venom', and he tried to free himself again, first by fire, then by squirming when his magic failed. He didn't know what that poison had in store for him, but if it was related to mamono, it couldn't be good.

"Mmmm… Looks like someone's getting in the mood. Ilona! Go practice on him."

"Y-Yes, Charlotte."

The 'leader' had apparently scurried away while Garret was trying to escape, and now the orders were coming from one of the other arachnae.

"Pick 'im up and do your thing, but let us _watch_. Can't have you fucking this up too."

Evidently their 'mistress' wasn't the only one showing animosity towards the new recruit. Ilona gave no response, but by the tapping sound of legs on stone, had moved to comply with their command. Garret felt two arms gently wrap around him and effortlessly lift him off the ground, followed by two spider legs that grabbed his lower half once he was vertical. Despite having several layers of web separating him from the arachne, they did nothing to dull his sense of touch. As she clutched him against her body, he felt, the smooth, hard, spider chitin against his legs, the soft, heavy weight of her breasts as they pressed into his chest, and the warmth of her breath on his neck. She held him gently in her embrace for a moment, before one of the other spiders prodded her to action.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get on with it!"

"R-Right!"

Her arms shifted as she clutched Garret tighter to her and leaned towards his neck. Almost inaudibly, he heard her whisper 'sorry…', then felt a shot of icy pain as a pair of fangs bit into the skin between his shoulder and neck. Said pain was quickly replaced by a comforting warmth that began to spread up his neck and across his chest as he felt the venom get injected into him. A second later, it was over, Ilona relaxed, and he was carefully lowered to the ground.

"Alright, that seemed fine to me. At least you can do something right. Now let's get to work on the rest of them. Once they marinate in our venom for a while, spells will be the last thing on their mind."

* * *

As the spiders worked, Garret had nothing to do but wait. He felt the venom slowly working its way through his body, spreading that pleasant-feeling warmth down his back, into his head, and across to his other arm. It was making him more sensitive and more susceptible to a mamono's touch. When he experimentally wriggled, the sensations of the thread sliding across his affected body parts caused him to shudder in pleasure. Once it eventually reached his groin, a fire was lit with him. His cock sprang to attention, and the sensations of the silk sliding across it as it grew nearly caused him to cum right there. He had to get out of here! He had to escape! If he didn't, he'd… what would he do?

As the poison washed through his head, other thoughts began to intrude. Why should he try to escape? It felt so comfortable in this webbing, he should just relax and enjoy it. Ilona seemed like a nice girl, being her husband wouldn't be so bad. Hell, with the amount of abuse she was getting, she deserved a bit of happiness. These thoughts slowly coalesced, forming an organized voice in his head that urged him to submit, but the logical part of his mind rebelled against it. This was the same thing that happened with the youko! This wasn't him; this was the corruption talking! Having experienced it before, once he recognized what was happening, he found it easier to resist. He just had to push back, focus on thoughts opposite the intruding ones and make sure they won. Of course he still had to escape! Of course being forced into 'marriage' with the enemy would be terrible! The fact that Ilona would be happy didn't matter at all! She was evil! She was not human, and she stood against them!

The unique nature of arachne venom made things more difficult, though, and drove his thoughts down a path he really didn't want to go down. It ate away at his inhibitions and inflamed his lust, as expected, but it also degraded his pride and sense of self. Why did he think so highly of himself? Arachnae were superior beings, he should be happy to listen to them. Why did he care about being bound and their penchant for abuse? He was theirs; it was their right to do what they wanted to him. Why was he trying to resist? It would be so much more pleasant for him once he submitted and learned his place.

Resisting this forced him to think like, presumably, an Arachne, and that was subtly terrifying. Why was he thinking so highly of himself? Because he was strong! He was superior! Why did he care about being bound and abused? Because these insects dared to harm him! Why did he try to resist? Because he could never submit to such lowly creatures. The world was his, and they belonged at his feet! They were his toys! If he wanted to kill them, he would! If he wanted to torture them, he'd take pleasure in it! These thoughts, too, created their own voice echoing in his head.

Then another voice, quieter but no less insistent, appeared and tried to pull him back. This was going too far. He wasn't a monster, he wasn't sadistic, he wasn't like them. You're Garret! A soldier of The Order, not a monster and not their prey.

As time crept by, a three-way battle for Garret's soul raged within him, one voice pulling him to submit to the monsters, another fighting it, encouraging him to become like them, and a final one desperately pleading for him to hold on to his humanity. There was only one upside to his situation: though the venom was transforming him to better suit the arachnae, it also was slowly getting rid of his headache…

* * *

The arachne 'mistress' returned just as the others were finishing up and voiced her approval.

"All done? That's wonderful. We'll distribute them to the rest of the colony once the venom's had time to do its work. Charlotte, Sabrina, you're free to go… Ilona, I believe we have some _education_ to get to."

"… Y-Yes, mistress."

It would be a few hours until they returned.

During this time, Garret began to formulate an escape strategy. His mental battle was still going on, but he was getting used to the venom's effects. Despite what the arachnae claimed, its effectiveness lessened over time as his body adapted to it, rather than intensifying or holding strong. Evidently that wasn't the usual case, though. The pile of humans became increasingly noisy as time went on, with people wriggling and moaning in pleasure as the venom took them. Their movements caused more of the silk to slide across their sensitive bodies, pleasuring them further and causing them to moan and squirm again. It was a dangerous loop that meant none of them were likely to escape on their own. He'd need to find a way to pull them out with him when he fled... He tried to ignite a hand again, and this time managed to get a small spark. What ever that venom and demonic energy was doing, at least it was helping his head, he just needed a few more minutes. The tapping of legs on stone, though, indicated he might not get that…

"For our next class, we'll need a man… Ilona, pick someone. I'll show you how to properly train your prey."

A moment later, Garret found himself being lifted up again, then slung over a shoulder.

"Hmm… Why did you pick him specifically?"

"… H-he was my first, mistress…"

Clearly not first lover, but maybe first bitten? Either way, it didn't matter. The sentimentality of it caused an exasperated sigh and a pause that Garret could only assume was caused by the mistress rolling her eyes.

"… Very well… but don't get any ideas. You're to break him, not fall in love like a school-girl."

"Yes, mistress…"

"Now come. Let's get him set up in your cave."

* * *

Their journey lead them downwards, deeper into the mountain, much to Garret's displeasure. He tried to keep track of the twists and turns as they went, but eventually gave up. The 'storage' room would likely be empty by the time he freed himself anyways, and there was no guarantee it was anywhere close to an exit. When they arrived at their location, he was lifted up again, then pressed against what he could only assume was a spider web. Ilona gave him an experimental shake to see that he was properly adhered, then released him.

"Good, he seems well secured."

A moment later he felt someone pull him from the side.

"…Very well secured, indeed. Ilona, I'm going to attend to something, cut him out of there and get him tied properly for our next class. I think even someone as stupid as you can manage that."

"… Yes, mistress…"

The monster began to walk away, though she paused and called a final instruction before venturing out of earshot.

"Don't take too long, dear, you don't have to be gentle. If he bleeds a little, it doesn't matter… it might even be for the better."

… G _ulp._ Before Garret had a chance to dwell on this, though a spider-leg came down and carefully cut through the lower part of the cocoon, freeing his own legs. A pair of strong hands quickly grabbed them and forced them apart with inhuman strength, before wrapping threads around each ankle and fastening them to the web with a set of complex knots. The same happened to his hands as the thread on his chest was cut, and Garret soon found himself spread-eagled, barely able to even wiggle. Despite her mistress' words, though, Ilona maintained a methodical, careful pace as she removed the web from him. Once his torso was bare, he felt a hand skate over his shoulder and lay against his chest for a moment before she focused her attention on his head. As the thread blinding and gagging him was removed, for the first time in what felt like ages, Garret was free to see and speak again.

The naked arachne crawling over top of him was beautiful, though that description seemed redundant when discussing mamono. Heavy, pendulous breasts, disproportionate to her slender frame, brushed against him as she removed the last few threads. Her medium-length, brown hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and her eyes, though he couldn't tell the colour, sparkled beautifully in the glow of the luminescent fungi that gave the cave its lighting. Her spider half was less attractive and somewhat unnerving, but was also different from what he expected a spider-monster to look like. It wasn't black or purple like the archetypal arachnae, hers was composed of various shades of brown chitin, almost like a garden spider, and her abdomen, more rounded than usual.

Moving back to the much more pleasing human half, under ideal circumstances, Garret would have probably complimented her skin, phrasing it as 'flawless' or 'porcelain'. Unfortunately, at the present time, it was anything but. Large, colourful bruises spread across her mottled skin, some looking to be from blunt force, others forming narrow bands from whips or bindings fastened too tightly. The girl just looked beat up, worn down, tired… her face matched this as well, with an almost blank expression displayed upon it, and her beautiful eyes had an empty look to them. A mamono wasn't supposed to look like this…

When she finished securing him, Ilona shifted to his side and… sat? Whatever a spider did to rest, beside him on the web, but didn't touch him. Garret looked at her warily, expecting to be assaulted at any moment, but she just stayed there, looking glumly down at the ground. …Well he wasn't going to complain. His headache was almost gone, but he didn't want to try to cast until he was absolutely sure he could. His internal struggle was still going on, too. Though it was quieter now, the arachne-like voice was telling him to sneer at the girl and defiantly insult her, while the submissive voice was telling him to just lay there, wait, and accept whatever she would do to him. Oddly enough, the voice representing his humanity told him to talk to her, ask her if she was alright. Maybe this was out of genuine concern after seeing her bruises, but Garret shoved that notion aside. He certainly wasn't going to make his situation worse by insulting her, nor was he going to accept it, but he had to pick one of the voices to throw his mental strength behind. Talking with her was the least-bad option, so that was what he would do. But it was only to distract her and, more importantly, to keep control of his own mind! Definitely not concern, he told himself.

Despite his decision, though, Garret still had trouble deciding what to actually say. He eventually landed on just making a simple observation.

"You're injured."

"Yes…"

"…Are you ok?"

"Yes…"

"You don't look ok."

"It's fine…"

That line of conversation continued for a while, but with every question he asked, the arachne only gave a monosyllabic reply. He wasn't getting anywhere like this. Still, though, Garret tried to at least sound empathetic. He just wanted information, though, nothing else. He definitely didn't feel sorry for her… right? Besides, it kept his mind busy and away from how nice her breasts felt against him, or how much he wanted her to-No, no. Not that. With no better option, he mimicked how Annika had tried to talk to him when he was troubled.

"Ilona, talk to me… Are you really ok? What happened?"

The girl stiffened when she heard her name and was silent for a moment before finally replying in a shaky voice.

"No… I don't think I'm ok… I messed up. I failed…I'm a failure…"

At this point, he would have put a hand on her shoulder, but with the webbing in place, his options for physically comforting here were severely limited... How was he supposed to continue this? Interacting with people, let alone comforting them was not Garret's forte.

"You don't look like a failure to me, Ilona."

"No, I am… I forgot who the sorcerer was… If he had woken up before we bit everyone, I… He'd have killed so many of us…"

Keep a straight face, Garret, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. … Yet.

"But he didn't, right? You made a mistake, but you fixed it. You're not a failure."

"No, but… but…" The girl broke down and started sobbing.

"But I can't do anything right! I was never any good at farming, so Father sent me to help with the wagons instead… t-t-then, when our caravan got ambushed, I tripped when I tried to run and the arachne got me! Then they started to teach me how to be one of them, but I can't even get that right! I can't act like them, I can't talk like them, I didn't even manage to snare a single man when we… when we attacked you… a-a-and I forgot who the sorcerer was when they told me to collect the bodies…"

She sniffed and wiped away her tears.

"And now I'm crying to a soldier like an idiot…"

"Hey, it's fine, I won't tell anyone. I'm sorry you went through all that… but I don't think you're a failure. You're still trying your best, right? It'll be fine. And besides:"

Garret squirmed against his restraints for emphasis.

"Your rope-work is very good. I don't think I know anyone who could force their way out of these."

The complement on her bondage skills brought a slight smile to Ilona's face.

"Thanks… but I'm no good compared to my mistress."

"You're better than me at least. I can only do the basic reef-knot, maybe a bowline on a good day, but nothing like these knots."

"That's mostly the web being sticky… the knots aren't too important."

"You're selling yourself short, Ilona. You've got at least one skill you're good at, the other stuff will come in time. You're not a failure."

She smiled again and wiped the last of her tears away. At least he had gotten her to stop crying.

"Thanks, uh… "

"Garret."

"Thanks, Garret… that's really nice of you to say."

He nodded in response.

"So is that how you got your bruises? Your mistress beats you when you get something wrong?"

"… Yes… if you mess anything up, she'll slap you. If you fail your tasks, she'll whip you… if she's bored, she'll tie you up… she does this to all the new girls…"

"That's insane…why would she do that to her own sisters?"

Ilona snorted.

"She says it's for our own good. To make us 'better arachnae'. I think she just hates humans, or, uh… anybody who used to be one."

"A monster that hates humans… Never thought I'd see one of those."

"She said she fought The Order before… maybe something happened…"

"Maybe… but you don't seem happy about it. Can't you leave?"

Ilona shook her head sadly.

"No… if she caught me, she'd treat me even worse. And where would I go? The elves in the forest don't like arachnae, there's nowhere else to live in these mountains that aren't already full of orcs… and there's no free men left in the demon realms."

The Order wouldn't be particularly welcoming either…

"I'm sorry… but-"

* * *

"Maybe we could leave together?"

"Get it together! Where is your pride as an arachne?!"

"Maybe I could help."

* * *

The voices in his head spoke up, again, trying to pull him into committing to something once way or the other. None of their options were things he wanted, though. Even the 'human' voice was acting monster friendly. Hardening his resolve, he tried to force a fourth option. He just had to retract his partial sentence and tell her '… never mind'.

"Maybe we could leave together?"

What was that!? That wasn't what he wanted! He knew what to say, he planned what to do! Why had he said that instead?! A sudden pressure on his head – no, in his mind, alerted him to what it was. The submissive voice had seen the opportunity and pounced on it. It was getting stronger, and if he didn't fight it, it might engulf him entirely. His failure to force what he truly wanted to say was unnerving to say the least, but he knew his situation now. He didn't have the strength to go his own way when a 'voice' was dominant, he had to strike a balance and prevent any single one from taking over. If he managed to keep their strengths equivalent, they'd fight each other and let him stay him. Mostly. Maybe. At least they had died down for now…

At 'his' words, Ilona's eyes lit up and got a little misty again.

"Do you really mean that, Garret?"

"Yes. Well, first you'd need to get me out of this web, but…. Yeah, I'd like that."

With remnants of the submissive voice still floating around his head, Garret didn't want to immediately contradict it, but he tried to phrase it in such a way that it would help him. If he could get out of the web without burning the energy on a spell, all the better.

"Garret, I…" Ilona paused to wipe her eye. "Can I hug you?"

He couldn't bring himself to say no. When he responded with an affirmation, she skittered across the web until she was directly in front of him, then dove forward into crushing hug that nearly choked him. She realized the strength she was using a moment later and loosened her grip, though she still kept pressing herself against him.

"T-thank you… that's the first time I've felt wanted in… in a long time."

She shivered against him, and something wet fell on his shoulder. She was probably crying as she held him.

The two stayed like this for time and, though Garret was loath to admit it, it felt… nice. And not just because of her breasts pressing against him. By all rights, he should have hated her, but when she was holding him and crying against him, she seemed almost human. Like she was nothing more than a distressed young woman. Before long, though, Garret felt a need growing. Having a beautiful, naked girl hugging them would have excited any man on the best of days, and Garret was no exception. The demonic energy and remnants of the venom pushed that response further and he soon found himself with a rapidly hardening erection. It didn't take long for Ilona to notice it as well and she smiled.

"So you want me like that too…. Well I am a monster after all. Thank you, Garret, I'll help you with that."

Before he could say anything, she dropped down to his waist and immediately enveloped his member with the soft pillows of her breasts. She began to slowly pump them up and down, licking her lips in anticipation as she stared at its head.

"Garret? Does it feel good?"

She paused, looking up at him for approval.

* * *

"Yes… Yes, it feels wonderful."

"Get off of me, you stupid bitch! You don't even know how to pleasure a man correctly!"

"Ilona, please… please stop. There's someone else…"

* * *

Being with another woman like this, even if the situation was involuntary, felt like cheating on Annika. He needed to resist… do something. He was about to pick his choice when a familiar voice from the cave entrance interrupted them.

"Ilona, dear, what do you think you're doing?"

Ilona froze at the sound of that icy voice, a look of terror on her face. She didn't reply, nor turn around.

"If I remember correctly, I instructed you to wait until my return, not begin fucking the merchandise."

"Y-… Yes, Mistress." Ilona whimpered, looking up at Garret with eyes that pleaded 'save me'.

"I. Can't. HEAR YOU!"

A blast of web splattered across Ilona's back and wrapped around her torso, before pulling back. With her thread, their 'mistress' quite literally pulled Ilona off the web, throwing her to the floor. Ilona cowered where she fell, and the other arachne slowly walked over to her, tapping a wooden rod in her hand as she did.

"You were to tie him up and wait, were my instructions not clear!?"

"I'M SORRY, MISTRESS!"

 _Whack!_ With a swing of her arm, the woman delivered a stinging blow to Ilona's side, causing her to cry out and hunch over. If she were fully human, she might have curled into a ball, but arachne biology didn't allow for that.

"I have told you many times. I even warned you before leaving! You're not to be falling in love with your prey until you have broken them completely! Look at him! It's he broken?" She pointed her rod towards Garret.

"N-No, mistress."

 _Whack!_ She rapped her across the back, causing her to collapse onto the floor.

"Then why did you!?"

 _Whack!_ Suddenly she adopted a sweet, motherly tone that would have sounded comforting if not for the malice that lay behind it.

"Ilona, darling, I don't know what I am to do. I took you into my home, I turned you, I fed you, and I gave you so many lessons on how to become a proper arachne. Why must you repay my kindness with rebellion? Do you really hate me that much that you refuse to listen to even the most simple instructions?"

"N-"

Ilona's response was cut off by another strike of the rod.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but it seems that I've failed as a teacher. I can't show you anything like this."

 _Whack!_

"But don't worry, I know how to fix you!" Suddenly her tone became much more cheerful. "I'll break you like I break a man. I'm sorry, it will hurt, but once you aren't able to think any more, I'll build you back up. I'll start from the foundations and shape you into what an arachne should be. Don't worry, Ilona, one day you will be perfect."

 _Whack!… Whack!... Whack!_

Ilona was forced to the ground and beaten repeatedly. She protected her head with her arms, but her assailant mostly aimed for the back, sides and breasts. Even though she was a monster, even though they were enemies, Garret couldn't bear to watch this. He had to stop it, he had to protect her somehow. Most of the voices in his head were of similar mind.

* * *

"Just let it happen… she's the superior being, she can toy with whoever she wants."

"She dares to lay a finger on another in your presence?! Call her! Insult her! Draw her onto you and show her how a true arachne should act!"

"Apologize! You started this, explain it to her! You're the one at fault, not Ilona!"

* * *

For once, the 'arachne' voice seemed the most reasonable.

"Is that how you treat all your sisters, you pathetic bitch? Beat monsters weaker than you for your own amusement? I pity you. You're even more worthless than her. You'll never find a husband like that, not a single man would want you!"

With no idea how to properly taunt someone, Garret ceded control of his speech to that voice, well aware that what he was saying was horribly out of character. It had an effect, though, and the spider-woman turned away from Ilona to grin at him with what would have been a beautiful smile of not for, again, the malice underneath.

"Oh, you do speak. Well save your pity, little fly, I already have a husband… or rather, had one."

She began to walk towards him, slowly tapping her rod in her hand with each step.

"Pfft, until what? He managed to get away? I bet he was only with you because you forced him and bolted the minute he got a chance."

Their mistress' smile didn't break, nor did he pace quicken, but Garret could see his words were hurting her based on her grip on the rod tightening and how her knuckles had started to whiten.

"No, actually. We lived a blissful life until you took him. In the last great crusade, your fellow soldiers of that damnable Order put him to the sword in front of me."

She halted and thrust her abdomen forward, launching a spray of thread at Garrett's groin. As it flew, she swished it with a quick motion of her spinneret, causing it to wrap around his clock and balls (in some places, even knotted) in an impressive display of skill. He didn't have time to admire that, though. When the last of the thread landed, she pulled it with a single deft motion, causing it to tighten painfully, crushing his balls, cutting into his shaft, and making Garret gasp in pain.

"C- guh. Careful there, I know you need my cock just – ah! Just as much as I do!"

The spider frowned. Apparently this was something that bothered her even more than him mocking her late husband.

"You're right. As much as I hate it, I do want your cock, or, if not yours, one of the other soldier's we captured. But I will have it on my terms."

She crawled onto the web and raised his chin with the tip of her rod, staring directly into his eyes.

"My husband died pleading for his life. Your Order hacked him to pieces slowly, drawing out his end, but even as they did so, he kept begging for mercy. Now you will suffer as he suffered. I will give you pleasure."

She stroked his shaft 'lovingly'.

"And I will give you pain."

She brought her rod down on Garrett's stomach, hard, causing him to hunch over (as much as he could) and nearly vomit.

"But what I won't give you is release. You will want to cum, but I won't let you. You might resist at first, but soon you will come to beg. And I will ignore you. Weeks and months will go by without relent, breaking your mind and shattering your sanity, but still I will show no mercy. Only when you have lost everything that makes you, 'you', and are reduced to a mindless husk that can only drool, slaver and beg, will I _consider_ letting you cum."

Gods above, this woman had issues… even the submissive voice was starting to tremble, no longer wanting to give in. Was this what their crusades left in its wake? No, Garret, don't think about that, you have to get out of here. With her attention focused on his eyes, Garret reached for the magic and burned the thread wrapped around his right arm. Now that his headache was gone and the voices, mostly under control, nothing was preventing him from casting.

"That's an interesting plan you have there, but you seem to be expecting me to just go along with it. That's not going to happen."

The arachne laughed and drew herself close, putting her face meer inches away from his.

"Oh you don't have a choice in the matter, little fly. You're caught in our web, we can do what ever we w-"

 _Thud!_

Her sentence was interrupted by Garret swinging his free arm into a right hook and socking her across the jaw. Though he couldn't move much in the webbing, he still managed to put enough weight behind it to knock the arachne's human half sideways. The brief look of total surprise when he hit her was something Garret was going to savor for a long time. She took a step back and checked her jaw with a hand, glaring at him as she did.

"You. You dare! I seems I gave Ilona too much credit for her knots."

Garret smiled and glared back.

"Oh no, her knots were fine, they just won't hold me."

He paused, allowing a perplexed expression to creep across his foe's face. Well, voices? What should I do? The submissive one, driven by fear of what was to come, the aggressive one, driven by hate and pride, and the human one, motivated to protect Ilona, all returned with the same answer.

* * *

"KILL HER!"

"KILL HER!"

"KILL HER!"

* * *

… with pleasure.

He thrust his hand forward and called his magic, a grand conflagration exploding from it and knocking the woman off the web. The energy he spent rushed out of him, causing him to slouch for a moment, but he quickly gathered himself and burned his bindings with another spell, depositing him onto the ground.

"You see, I'm what you were searching after! A fire mage!", the 'human' voice shouted.

Ilonas 'mistress' froze, a look of absolute terror written across her face. Then she turned and scrambled away as fast as she could, trying to flee.

"HOW DARE YOU RUN! STAND YOUR GROUND AND FIGHT!", the 'arachne' voice roared.

He threw a spear of fire at her main body, but she lurched at the last moment and it hit off-center, sinking deep into her spider-half's side. When Garret detonated it, the explosion blew off three of her legs and the women collapsed, skidding forward slightly. Wasting no time, he ran after her.

The arachne was in no shape to fight. With her human half burned and bruised by his fireball, and her spider-half cracked open by his spear, she lay on the ground, gasping in pain. When he approached, she tried to crawl away but couldn't move more than a few inches. Garret crouched down and, careful to avoid the burned areas, picked up and held her human form. Now it was the 'submissive' voice's turn to influence him.

"I'm sorry… I'll make it quick. I'm not a monster."

With that, the hand that was cradling her head shot a spear forward and concluded the matter as quickly and painlessly as possible. Once done, Garret stood up and looked at her lifeless body. Her human-half had been scorched as expected, but her spider-half… despite its hard chitin, his fire had melted into it and burned it away with ease. Even paper would have given more resistance. The discovery that they were exceptionally weak to fire made Garret take a breath of relief. Maybe he'd get out of here yet.

"Garret… you…"

Behind him, sitting beside the charred remains of the web lay the bruised and battered Ilona. She looked at him with empty eyes, but there was a slight hint of something else in them… fear? Or was that longing?

* * *

"Stay with her. You were her first, you belong to her."

"Push her down! Dominate her! You're her 'mistress' now!"

"Help her! You said you wanted to be with her, at least escape together."

* * *

This time, the voices were weak. They were all fighting each other with equal strengths, they were balanced! That gave Garret the opportunity to force his own will just once before they'd all turn on him again.

"Run, Ilona… I'm sorry…" Was what he said, before he fled the cave.

He couldn't kill her. She was too different… too human. Too pitiable. Even if he wanted to, Garret didn't think he _could_ manage to hurl a spell at her. …But that was fine. No need to feel guilty about your weakness, Garret, you need to save energy in case someone blocks your escape. It was ok to let her live. That's all there is to it, it's just simple pragmatism! And besides… even though he wanted, no _, even though the_ _venom was making him_ _want_ to go to her, he had to save the other soldiers and return to the human woman that was waiting for him – Annika. The arachne, kind and beautiful though she was, played no part in that future.

After he had turned the corner and ran a ways down the hall, though, a thought came to his mind. He had given Ilona hope, willingly or not, then tore it away. Was there a different way he could have done this? A way no one would be hurt? A way he could have escaped without lying? Garret didn't know, and he forced the thoughts from his mind. He had to focus on what lay ahead. Don't think about her, Garret, she's just a monster. You're fine. You're fine.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I need a drink after writing that chapter… Poor Ilona.

OK, there's a bit to unpack here. Welcome back, everyone, let's get started.

Demonic energy is written to change both a person's body and mind to better suit their 'wife' if they get captured, which is kind of horrifying. Since arachnae are written to be sadistic bondage enthusiasts, it makes sense to me that the energy would make a person more submissive and sensitive. As stated before, though, Garret has a natural resistance to DE, which makes this story possible, but brings problems of its own. Since he is currently in the process of being corrupted by it (albeit at a slower pace), how do I write that? Just giving him random urges to do something felt a little cheap since I could then simply write them off as 'I was tempted to, but I didn't'. It's also boring and doesn't quite capture the internal struggle that I think would have been going on. My solution to this was the 'voices', the mental manifestation of Garret's struggle against corruption. By having him fight them, try to play them off each other, and even out their strengths (by siding with each of them an equal number of times), he can force a few of his 'own' decisions, but is still slowly getting dragged towards becoming an incubus with every 'cooperative' answer. This conflict, I felt, was better than mere temptation and allowed for more interesting scenes, but is still sort of an experiment. I've never written something like this before, so I'm not entirely sure how it'll turn out. That'll be for y'all to judge once the next few chapters are done.

Next, on to the 'mistress'. Garret hates monsters. Why? Not only because of The Order's propaganda/teachings, but also because of the people he's lost to them. Well, that's a dynamic that's super easy to turn around. If a monster lost her husband to The Order, especially if it was in a gruesome manner, I don't think it would be too unreasonable to imagine her beginning to hate them. …But they're also still a monster and basically forced to love (or at least lust for) men. What would that do to their mental state, wanting to hate someone that much, but also being instinctively drawn to them? The answer (in this chapter) is clearly: 'not good things'. The mistress found her answer about how to reconcile these opposing urges in the form of revenge via sexual domination and torture… but then is she any better than the soldiers who tortured her husband? What's going to happen if an Order soldier manages to escape her torments? It's a cycle that keeps perpetuating and ends up hurting 'innocents' (like Ilona).

Arachne biology was fun to think about this chapter. Though it's not explicitly stated that they have venom, I thought it made sense and would help them fit the role of the BDSM-Dominatrix, so I added it anyway. A rarity for MGE profiles, their entry mentioned a physical weakness: fire. The encyclopedia doesn't talk about how to kill monsters, and this is no exception, but from what's written here, you can certainly infer it. The exact text is: "Their main body and threads are weak to fire. For that reason, it's possible to avoid them and their webs to a certain degree if one carries something such as a torch.". A torch is basically nothing, in terms of a fire weapon, but that's enough to scare most of them off and burn their webs. If they, despite being written as a highly intelligent monster, fear a comparatively small flame, their bodies must be _really fucking weak_ to fire. By extension, that makes a fire-mage or anyone with a proper flaming weapon, their worst nightmare, and they'd have to act accordingly. This 'fact' governed a lot of their behavior this chapter.

Ok this is getting long. If I write much more, I'll end up delaying the story _again_ (I do edit these notes as well!), so let's call it here. Once again, thank you everyone for reading and a double thank you to my reviewers. I now know I'm on the right track with characterization, because what y'all commented on is exactly what I was going for. Thanks for the feedback!

Until next time, Sayonara!


	11. Day 57 Cont - Escape

**Day 57 Cont. / Escape**

"And the entire vanguard was captured?"

"Not entirely, Sir. Their wounded were with the main column, and some of their rear soldiers managed to escape, but that's still less than a quarter."

Lukas let out a sigh as he surveyed the mountain from behind The Order's defensive lines. With the vanguard lost and an unknown number of arachnae hiding underground, they had dared not advance into the valley, forced to remain on the previous mountains until the colony was dealt with.

"Well it's better than nothing…"

"Should I assemble the troops for an assault, sir?"

"No. We don't know what's hiding down there, and if the arachnae live up to their reputation, it'll be full of ambushes and traps. I won't lose any more of my crusade to capture a single mountain, I'll destroy it instead. Brynhild, you'll help me with this, won't you?"

The Valkyrie standing beside him crossed her arms and gave him a serious look.

"Do you think this is a worthy use of the Goddess' power?"

Though her words were cold and strict, they did not imply distaste. Rather, they carried an air of a teacher or professor assessing if a student was confident in their answer. Lukas returned the look with a serious one of his own, and with a determined voice, answered "Yes. I do."

His partner gave a slight smile, then nodded approvingly.

"Then it will be so."

He turned to the officer who had reported to him originally and nodded.

"Commander Harald, prepare the ranger squads for scouting duties and bring me these mages."

With a flick of his wrist, a scroll containing a list of names materialized in his hand and he thrust it towards the man.

"I have use of their talents."

The man took the scroll and offered a quick salute before replying with "Yes, sir". Then he spun on his heel, cape flapping as he strode away.

* * *

Annika paced back and forth impatiently at her position in the rear lines. The bandage wrapped around her head marked her as technically being one of the wounded, but the healing magic of the priests meant she was now combat capable. It did mean she couldn't wear her helmet, though, which shunted her to the reserve line, away from potential heavy fighting. She hadn't been there when the vanguard was overwhelmed, but Garret failing to return gave her all the information she needed. Something had gone terribly wrong, and Garret was among the taken.

"Loch, Smith. Come with me, our hero wants to see you. Something about a new operation."

The arrival of a sergeant signaled the departure of the two mages stationed near by. When he mentioned a new operation, Annika's ears perked up and she listened in to hear the details. None came, however, as they were simply directed back to Lukas for further instructions. Annika looked left, then right, and after seeing that nothing dangerous was going on, abandoned her post and hurried after them. If there was a rescue operation going on, she wanted to be a part of it.

 _Garret…_

* * *

"I trust all of you know what happened a few hours ago?"

When Annika arrived, the briefing had already begun, so she ended up standing at the back of the crowd of rangers and mages, straining her ears to hear. Lukas and Brynhild, as well as several other high-ranking officers stood in front of them, with the hero delivering the briefing personally. Almost everyone nodded at his question, but for the sake of the few who didn't, he quickly went over the situation – that the mountain ahead of them contained an enormous nest of arachnae, and that their ambush had kidnapped most of the vanguard.

"Arachnae are smart. They know they won't be able to fight an entire crusade so they're hiding in their mountain. No doubt they'll be expecting us to try to clear them out and have laid further traps and ambushes within. With a smaller nest, we might have tried to do just that, but this one is too big. Even in the best case, we'd lose hundreds of men and be halted for days, and that's not a sacrifice I'm willing to make. The reason you're here is simple. We're going to destroy this mountain, but first we need information. Mages, I'm told all of you have some experience with earth magic. Who here can combine that with divination magic? I need to know where their tunnels are, the depth of those tunnels, and the composition of the rock."

Out of the group of mages, less than a dozen raised their hands. Lukas looked disappointed at the small number but nodded anyway.

"That's less than I'd have liked, but we'll make do. If nothing else, at least we can give you more guards this way."

With that, he dismissed the unneeded mages, leaving only rangers and a few wizards (none of the sorcerers had the required capabilities).

"Your officers and sergeants will assemble the groups and give you your patrol routes. Mages, the rangers will protect and scout for you. Rangers, make sure the wizards are undisturbed when casting their spells. Time is of the essence, everyone. I'll launch my attack tomorrow morning, so you'll have to work through the night. Have your reports ready before then. Dismissed."

Putting aside the obvious question of how a single man was going to collapse a mountain, Annika pushed her way to the front of the crowd. She couldn't believe there was no plan for a rescue!

"What about the soldiers!?" She yelled as she forced herself in front of their leaving hero. One of the officers shouted and tried to push her back, but Lukas waved him off and allowed her to finish.

"You had a question."

Annika took a moment to b collect herself before asking again.

"What about all the captured soldiers? Half the Northreach soldiers are down there, and…" She cut herself off, not wanting to say the terrifying words that her partner was too.

"We have to try to rescue them!"

Lukas sighed when he heard this.

"What's your name, soldier?"

"Annika. Annika Nyman."

"In any other situation, I'd agree, Ms. Nyman. But this is a nest far bigger than what we expected. If we launch a rescue now, we'll lose more men than we would save… And I won't have my crusade broken before we even begin to attack the demon realm proper."

"But we can't just leave them there!"

"No we can't… but we also can't sacrifice soldiers foolheartedly. It's been hours since they were captured, they might all have… _changed_ by now. We don't know if there's anyone left there to save."

Annika deflated as he spoke, understanding the calculus behind his decision but unwilling to accept that they were leaving Garret to die. Lukas picked up on this change of demeanor.

"… Your partner was captured, weren't they?"

"… Yes…"

"I'm sorry. But even for your partner, we can't send anyone in."

"… Then what can I do… is there anything anyone can do?"

Lukas placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"If I were you, I'd pray for a miracle."

* * *

"Shhh… Quiet!"

Leading a small group of human soldiers, Garret crept through the arachnae's tunnels, praying to not be discovered. The rooms immediately adjacent to Ilona's had been devoid of arachnae, but each held a bound human soldier. With his fire, Garret had wasted no time carefully burning them out, but though they still seemed human, they were worthless when it came to combat. The venom had affected them much more strongly than it had Garret, rendering them docile and submissive. While that meant they were extremely receptive to his commands, it also meant they wouldn't dare raise a finger against… just about anything. 'Guarding sheep' was what Garret likened his current situation to. As they crept through the dimly lit caves, he had to harshly whisper back to them to keep some stragglers from wandering off. Thankfully the screams of pleasure or pain from other arachne victims covered most of the sounds they made.

Though Garret tried to save as many people as he could, often times he was too late. The next room he peered into contained a man and an arachnae, but unlike Garret, the man had completely changed. In the glow of the fungi, he could see the tell-tale purple tint that had crept across the man's skin, and by how he was frantically thrusting against his spider paramour, he didn't look like he was going anywhere on his own. Unfortunately for him, his thrusts and cries were for naught as the arachnae in front of him followed her late mistress' instructions much more dutifully than Ilona. When she scrawled off of him to adjust his bindings, Garret saw that webbing had been wrapped around the man's cock in a tight ring, preventing release. He also saw about a dozen bite marks where the spider had injected even more venom, no doubt raising his libido to dizzying heights.

* * *

"Get out of here, Garret. Run."

"KILL THEM! Show them you're the one who decides who suffers now!"

* * *

Oddly the submissive voice was quiet here, though probably because of the lack of things to submit to and its fear of being tortured endlessly like that. Either way, the human voice was the obvious choice, so away Garret ran. "Poor Bastard…" was what he muttered as he left the man to his fate and crept away. He needed to conserve energy, he couldn't waste it unless it was urgent, or a voice forced him to…

Eventually they reached a fork in the road, where the tunnel split into two. Deciding, basically at random, he led his fellow soldiers down the right path, which proved to be a mistake. Around a bend, it opened up, into a giant cavern containing dozens of arachnae of all different varieties, wandering around. This must be some sort of rallying point for them, or maybe a common area. In the center of it, lay a patch of dried, torn webs. That must have been where the spiders had kept him before Ilona took him, but by now, no cocoons remained. The captives had all already been claimed. While that was disheartening, at least that meant Garret didn't have to enter this room. There was no way he could fight this many monsters.

"Let's go the other way…", he whispered.

The other path was similar to before, being lined with small rooms. As usual, Garret headed for the nearest one to check it out. The chamber contained a female soldier, stripped naked and suspended from the ceiling by several thick threads. It also contained two arachnae this time, who were occupied with rubbing their hands all over her body, fingering her, groping her breasts and ass, and nipping at her to inject yet more venom. Unlike the men, this woman came again and again, screaming with pleasure as the spiders had their way with her.

* * *

"Let them do what they want… maybe you can be the husband of the woman after she turns."

"GET THEM! STOP THEM! KILL THEM!"

"Just get the hell out of here. You can't fight them."

* * *

Garret was inclined to side with the human voice again and ensure his own safety, but he had to keep things balanced… at least they were weak to fire.

"Stay here and stay hidden.", he whispered to his 'sheep' before stepping into the open and striding through the door towards the trio.

"Hey! Release that woman, you whores!"

At the sound of his shout, the spiders turned towards him and almost in unison, brought a hand up to their mouths to hide a giggle. Their mirth was short lived as Garret conjured a pair of spears and sent them flying into their spider halves. They screamed in pain as he blew them apart, then followed it up with a pair of fire balls to finish the job... Then he collapsed as his vision flickered and the energy rushed out of him. On all fours, he wheezed and tried to stay conscious. Shit… shit… too many spells… shit. If he wanted to do something like that again, he'd need to find Catherine's crystal.

When he felt like he could stand again, he pushed himself to his feet and pulled himself upright. Almost immediately, he began feeling better as his energy reserves started to regenerate. Wait…. That was quick. Too quick. Something was wrong, wasn't it? In the back of his mind, a memory from his military schooling played before him. It was of a lecture on demonic energy.

"One fascinating property of demonic energy is it's ability to affect people differently purely depending on their gender. For females, it snuffs out their spirit energy production to prepare for their transformation into a monster, but for men… For men, it encourages spirit energy production, raising it to levels far beyond a normal human's as it corrupts them."

The voice of the remembered lecturer caused Garret to shiver. Don't think about that, Garret, just focus on getting everybody out.

"Hey. Hey! Are you ok?" with a flash of fire, he cut the woman down. When she was on the floor, though, she only answered his questions with moans and gaps as she fingered herself. With each breath, her breasts grew, and her hips and legs swelled. … They were too late.

Her legs throbbed, then split into two sets of front spider legs. Her ass and hips swelled and slowly shed their skin as a large, round spinneret grew, as well as two pairs of back legs. Like most monsters, her breasts also grew to an envious size, and her figure reshaped itself to become slimmer, shapelier, more attractive. Then she slumped forward against Garret as the transformation took its toll. Before she could do anything, though, Garret took advantage of his accelerated recovery and hit her with a blast of fire.

* * *

Events like these were common as Garret's group crept through the halls. Progress was slow, since they were forced to hide in shadows or behind rocks when an arachnae wandered by, and when they did have to kill something, they had to spend precious time dragging the heavy corpses out of sight. Disappointingly, many of the rooms they checked contained either tortured incubi or freshly transformed arachnae, but they did manage to find some additional survivors. As they wandered through the tunnels, their group of (extremely docile) men and women slowly grew. By the Gods above, though, this complex was massive… Though they had been walking in a vaguely upward trajectory for at least an hour, there was still no sign of the surface.

Eventually they found a room full of items looted from the captured soldiers, mercifully unguarded. Leather and metal armour lay in one pile, haphazardly tossed there – for why would the Arachnae care about armour that wouldn't fit them? Another pile held a collection of swords and shields, likewise neglected. Though his group of survivors were too meek and submissive for the weapons to be of use, Garret took one of the better-looking swords from the pile. Whoever it belonged to probably wouldn't mind… Unfortunately, there were no piles of clothes around, much to Garret's disappointment. They had probably just ripped him out of his robes and cast them aside. Armour on his arms and chest would interfere with his spell casting, but unwilling to go completely naked, he found a pair of leather-armoured leggings and boots that fit somewhat well. He belted his sword over them once he had pulled them on. When he finished rummaging through the leather pile, a slight glow in the corner of the room caught his eye. Stashed away, hidden behind the piles were a small handful of magical gems – spell focuses from the captured wizards. He passed over most of them, as a sorcerer had no need for a focus, but a particular, familiar one thrummed with energy and he quickly snatched it up.

"Catherine…"

Relief flooded through Garret as he grabbed the energy crystal, both from the knowledge that it would increase his abilities, as well as from knowing that the one memento he had of his late friend was not forever lost. He whispered a quick prayer, thanking her again, wherever she was.

"Don't worry, Catherine… I'll get these people out. They aren't going to end up like you."

At least he hoped he would… the venom and demonic energy was still affecting him, and he was beginning to notice a slight fog rolling over his thoughts…

* * *

Five minutes later, they were back on the move. The arachnae passing by became more and more frequent, and from the whispers he could make out, some of them had discovered their 'husbands' had gone missing. Speaking in hushed tones, though, most were too afraid to sound the alarm. Worried about the punishment they might receive if their mistress learnt they had let a human escape, they searched alone – something that, thankfully, made evading them much easier. Staying hidden, though, didn't get them any closer to finding a way out. They had to keep moving.

After what seemed like ages, Garret finally spotted a bit of light glowing from around a corner. In case of a trap, he had the soldiers stay put while he scouted it out and began to creep towards it. Peering around the corner, though, he nearly collapsed to the ground with relief. Sunlight, mountains and valleys all lay before him as he stared out of one of the cave entrances they were ambushed from. From the orange tint of the light, it looked like the sun had just begun to rise. Was it a new day and he had been underground all night? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was almost out… but between him and freedom lay three arachnae hiding behind rocks or in a crevice on the ceiling, no doubt waiting for The Order to try a rescue attempt. While they were well hidden from the outside, Garret could see them clearly from behind, so he got to work. He drained every last bit of energy in Catherine's crystal to summon an array of flaming spears, then sent them flying. Two of the arachnae were slain instantly, but the third barely survived. He quickly finished her with a blast of fire before she got a chance to scream, then leaned against the wall for support as his vision flickered. Even with the crystal, that was… that was too much… but the way was clear. He took one shaky step forward after the other until he reached the entrance and spotted the glittering lines of armoured Order soldiers across the valley. Safety… He took a put his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, then shouted and waved for the other soldiers to follow him.

"Come on!" They were safe! Finally… Garret let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and did a quick head-count. Twelve soldiers… twelve people who would live another day. Twelve humans who wouldn't be corrupted by monsters… but there were still more, right? He pushed back against the encroaching, mental fog and tried to remember. Forty? Sixty? Eighty? Over a hundred? He couldn't recall the exact number of soldiers in the vanguard, but he knew it was a lot more than twelve…

* * *

"You're done, just get home. You're weak, you can't do anything else."

"GET BACK IN THERE AND DO YOUR JOB! YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!"

"Come on, Garret! No one gets left behind!"

* * *

The Arachnae's voice provided a welcome boost to his willpower, and he agreed with what it had to say. Maybe he'd get captured again, but he had to try and pull at least a few more out. Twelve people wasn't nearly enough.

Garret looked over the people he had rescued, who were aimlessly wandering around. One stuck out as being at least partially lucid, so Garret grabbed her and pointed her towards The Order's lines.

"Hey! I'm going back in for more, I need you to-HEY!" The woman got distracted and looked at something else, so he ignited a hand and pressed it against her side. The sudden burning pain caused the woman to yelp but brought her focus back.

"I need you to get everyone back to The Order. Can you do that?"

"U-uh-"

"CAN YOU DO THAT!?"

"Y-Yes, Sir!"

Drugged as she was in her submissive haze, the only way Garret found he could get through to her was to again, act like an arachnae. There was something that felt extremely disconcerting about it, like if he did it too often, he would lose who he actually was, but he didn't have any other choice. Raising his voice again, he shouted to the rest of the group.

"FOLLOW THIS WOMAN, YOU MAGGOTS, SHE'LL LEAD YOU BACK TO THE ORDER. IF YOU DON'T MAKE IT, I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!"

What was that last part? He didn't want to say that… Shit, was the arachne's voice taking over? He shivered and shook his head, trying to reorganize his thoughts. He'd been sloppy, hadn't he? He'd upset the balance… At least his shout had worked. The doped soldiers, though uncoordinated and sluggish, began to run with their new 'leader' towards the army, leaving Garret free to head back into the mountain.

"Once more into the breach, Garret, lives are at stake."

He tried to shove aside the anxiety rising within him as he stared into the maw of the earth, then stepped forward. He needed to hurry. He didn't know how much longer he had, and his arm was starting to turn purple…

* * *

When he progressed a little, Garret spotted a hither-to unnoticed split in the path. He doubted he'd find many more people by heading back the way he came, but there was another major tunnel off to the left and, further down it, he saw it split yet again into two or three more. With no better ideas, he headed down it, then picked the right-most fork. If he survived long enough, he'd sweep across each path from right to left, rescuing as many humans as he could. That was a pretty big 'if', though.

The tunnel complex was getting busier and busier as he moved, and Garret was forced to spend more and more time hiding. Were there simply more arachnae down this way? Or was the nest finally being alerted to their escape? It didn't matter… all that mattered was moving as quickly and as quietly as he could, hiding as he needed in any nook or cranny he could find.

After several minutes of walking, and a half-dozen empty rooms, Garret found signs of another survivor in the form of shouting and cussing coming from around a corner. When he looked into the room, he saw a very, very cross looking man, being assaulted on the web by three other arachnae, all of varying colours and builds. Part of his head wondered why there was such a variety of different arachnae here. Maybe a person's background governed the type of spider they turned into? The other parts of his brain quickly shoved that thought away. It didn't matter, what did matter was getting that man out of there.

Garret stepped forward into the room, then threw a roaring blast of fire at the lowest spider. Her scream, as she burned and fell off the web alerted the other two, who froze in fear for a moment at the sight of the fire. Soon, though, they realized they were backed into a corner and lunged at the person standing in their way. Garret dove to the side as the pair jumped off the web at him and flashed his fire once he righted himself. The arachnae cried out in pain as parts of their spider-halfs were melted, before charging forward with renewed vigor. Garret was about to ready another conflagration and finish them for good, when a spike of stone erupted from the ground in front of him and impaled the closest arachne. Then, with a whistling sound, a large shard of rock flew through the air towards the second. The spider heard it coming and barely managed to dodge it, but that gave Garret enough of an opening to quickly finish the job. He recognized that magic! That meant…

"Nathan! Are you alright!"

With the arachnae dealt with, he hustled over to the prisoner in the net and began to cut his earth sorcerer comrade down.

"A-Ah! I-I'm… I'm fine!"

Nathan spoke in ragged breaths, and, once he was free, Garret could see exactly why. He was covered in bruises and bitemarks, and the tell-tale purple veins spreading from the holes indicated he'd taken a _lot_ of venom. Garret snapped his fingers and produced a small flame to let him better see, then shivered when he saw the extent of the man's corruption. Frankly, it was a miracle that he could even cast at all in this state.

"Shit… We've got to get you out of here, Nate. Don't worry, the surface isn't far."

"NO!"

The man staggered to his feet, clenched a fist and struck his chest a couple times, before shaking his head.

"No… No. Hah… Garret, there's more down there. We've got to rescue them."

"Nathan, you're in no shape to fight, much less walk. Let's get you out of here. I'll come back for the others, I promise."

"No! No, we rescue them now! Garret, you're gonna need help. There's monsters all over the place. I'll be fine. This is something I have to do."

* * *

"Let him do what he wants, its not your place to command him."

"He'll be in your way and he's almost corrupted as it is. Kill him or send him away, it's the only option!"

"Nathan isn't going to last much longer, you've got to get him out of here…"

* * *

The human voice was the most reasonable of the three, but the submissive one had been neglected enough it was in danger of fading away… if it disappeared, the arachnae voice might take over, and then he wouldn't be rescuing anyone… He had to protect himself. He had to stay sane. It wasn't that he was afraid,… right? Sorry, Nathan…

Garret cursed himself for being so selfish, then followed the submissive voice, shoring it up and stabilizing his thoughts at least for the moment.

"… Alright… Let's go."

* * *

"Stay where you are, get on the ground! Quick, someone go get the priests."

The Order's frontline was abuzz with excitement as a trickle of captured soldiers made their way to them. Archers kept them from getting too close, until priests could check them over an purify them. Once they were announced to be ok, though, a cheer went up from the troops. Friends who were thought to be dead (or worse) were reunited, sometimes tearfully, then rushed to the rear to have the wounds they sustained examined.

"What's going on here?"

Attracted by the noise, Lukas and Brynhild came to check on the commotion personally.

"Someone rescued a bunch of soldiers!"

He furrowed his brow at that response. He hadn't ordered a rescue operation… Lukas quickly strode after the soldiers being taken to the make-shift medical grounds. Most were still a bit out of it, but he looked around until he found one that could talk and headed over to the bruised and battered woman. When she saw him coming, she struggled to push herself into a sitting position from the bedroll she had been laid on and gave a slow, sloppy salute.

"G-Good Day, Sir."

He nodded and returned the salute, before taking a knee beside her.

"At ease, at ease. Save your strength… What happened down there, soldier? How'd you make it back?"

The woman sighed and fell back onto her pillow with enough force that Lukas almost reached to catch her, the fatigue from her ordeal plainly displayed.

"A mage… A mage got free and broke us out. They bit all of us, and we could barely think, but he… he managed to hold on somehow and get us back. I think he's still in there."

Lucas nodded and thanked the woman for her time, then left. As he walked back to the rest of his officers, his mind wandered to the other soldier who had lost her partner. Annika Nyman, wasn't it? Maybe this was the miracle she was praying for.

"You know anything about this, Brynhild?"

"No…"

So, it wasn't the work of the Chief Goddess doing this… or at least not at a level that a lowly Valkyrie would know of. Either way, though, once bitten, twice shy. He wasn't going to risk any more soldiers, so all they could do was wait.

"Let's see what that magician can do."

* * *

"Die. Die. DIE!" Nathan shouted as he shot rock after rock at an arachnae they found toying with her 'husband'. His first two spells went wild, but the third was a solid hit and knocked her off balance, allowing Garret to quickly finish her off. Nathan didn't stop, though, and shot another rock into her corpse. "Die." A second quickly followed. "Die." Garret had to catch his arm before he threw what probably would have been a third one.

"Nathan, stop! She's already dead!"

The sudden physical resistance caused him to start, then shake his head, confused for a moment, looking between Garret and the monster.

"R-Right. Dead. We killed her. She's dead."

While Garret busied himself with burning back the web and cutting down the imprisoned soldier (who thankfully hadn't been fully corrupted yet), he walked over to the body and kicked it.

"Dead! You're dead! Fuck you!"

He spat, then started laughing. The soldier Garret was helping was too out of it to find this odd, but Garret raised an eyebrow. If he couldn't control himself, maybe it would be safer to leave him behind, despite the massive benefit his spells brought…

"… Are you alright, Nathan?"

"Hah… More than alright, Garret! I feel… I feel wonderful! Powerful!" He raised a fist and a giant spike of rock shot upwards from the ground.

Gods, where was all his energy coming from? He should have passed out several times over by now… Something in the back of Garret's mind told him he already knew the answer, but what was it? Had he figured it out earlier? Yes, he had to have, but for some reason he couldn't focus on it. There was just this vague, nebulous feeling that he should already know. A shiver ran down his spine as he thought what that implied. Fuck… His transformation was progressing again, wasn't it? Maybe he wasn't going to get out of this after all…

"Ok, Let's go! Come on, Nathan."

They needed to pick up the pace, he didn't know how much longer he had. Nathan's extra spells should be fine, so long as he kept him away from Ilona. … Wait…

* * *

With two magicians, the few fights they did have went rather smoothly, but the enemy within was turning out to be a bigger problem than the monsters. Nathan began to have more and more trouble aiming his spells. He sent them flying wildly, shards of rock firing in every direction, and might have been completely ineffective if not for the sheer volume he was slinging. His constant barrage of stone guaranteed that at least *some* would hit.

Garret himself found the voices in his head getting quieter, but his memory getting worse, and stray thoughts of Ilona intruding when he needed to concentrate. He burned himself again to try to give him something to focus on, but even that was starting to feel muted. Regardless, he shoved his thoughts of impending doom aside. They had found another handful of captured soldiers and, when it started to become too difficult to hide everyone, they headed back to the surface and sent them on their way. This was where things started to go wrong.

Nathan remained in the cave to watch their back while Garret yelled his commands to the soldiers, but as he returned for their third trip, he heard a sound like tearing flesh, followed by Nathan crying out in pain.

"Nathan! Are you alright!?"

He ignited a hand to give him more light, then, when he didn't see any monsters around, rushed over to his comrade, who was gasping and holding his arm. A close inspection quickly revealed what was wrong – A spike of stone had nearly torn his hand straight off, impaling it through the palm.

"Shit…"

That had to have been self-inflicted. Nathan must have felt himself slipping and tried to focus his thoughts with pain, much like Garret had a habit of doing. That wound, though… Earth mages couldn't just do superficial damage like his fire could…

"Nathan, we need to get you out of here. Come on, The Order is just over there."

"NO!" He screamed and pushed Garret away.

"No! No. No. No. I can't. Garret, look at me. I'm dead. I'm dead. I can't…"

He stopped and hit the side of his head with his good hand and shivered. Then he looked at Garret and lunged at him, grabbing him by the shoulder.

"Look at me! Look at me, look at me, look at me. I'm dead. I'm gone. I'm not going to-I can't-I… I-I can't think."

Sure enough, when Garret did examine him under better lighting conditions, he could see exactly the problem. Nathan's skin had gained the usual purple-tint of an incubus, and he could see muscles twitching as they were slowly rebuilt and reshaped to be more attractive, stronger and faster. By all rights, he should have been transformed already, but Nathan had somehow managed to hold on… albeit only by a hair.

"Garret! Garret, please! I-I don't have anything! This is all I've got. I-Just… Please. Please let me stay. It won't be long, I… let me fight. Just let me fight. Until the end. Please!"

With how desperate and fearful Nathan looked, Garret couldn't bring himself to say no. Thankfully, the voices in his head were so quiet they could barely put up any resistance. The 'human' voice commanded that he let him finish his duty to The Order and die a soldier's death, though, and something told Garret he should listen to it. He just needed to keep Nathan away from Ilona, but otherwise it'd be fine.

… Something in the back of his head told him that thought was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

* * *

Once Garret had cauterized the wound to stop the bleeding, the two sprinted through the tunnels as fast as they could. They didn't bother hiding, not that it mattered. By phenomenally good luck they had managed to avoid alerting the entire nest so far, but apparently, while they were on the surface, someone had discovered the bodies and raised the alarm. Shouts and bells sounded from the caves around them as they ran, urging them to hurry. Occasionally a cluster of arachnae would emerge from a tunnel and confront them, spraying thread or thrusting at them with crudely carved stone spears, but it was never enough to stop them. Large groups caused them to turn and run, but Garret managed to keep the thread off them with his fire, and Nathan could shred pairs of arachnae with his stones when direct force was needed. Throughout their panicked descent, Garret kept looking at their faces. Was Ilona one of the arachnae sent to stop them? Maybe she was around the corner. In that room? Down that hall? He started seeing her face everywhere, giving him pause. He had to make sure he didn't kill the real one!

… Wait…

* * *

Through winding tunnels, down into the depths of the mountain, they ran, arachnae chasing them all the way. His sorcerer friend tripped, but Garret caught him, hauled him to his feet, and they kept moving. They passed several rooms but didn't have time to look inside. How were they supposed to get anyone out like this, much less escape with _another_ arachne?

The two rounded a corner, passed through a couple forks in the tunnels, and nearly crashed into another mamono who was coming the other way. She was just as surprised as they were, but Garret managed to recover first and throw a flaming spear into her. Then he grabbed his friend and shoved him into a side room before diving after him and hiding behind the sizable corpse of another spider. Apparently, he'd cleared this room earlier…

Out in the hall, shouts got closer, then paused, then began to disappear as the pursuing arachnae split up to search each path of the… rather complex tunnel junctions they had just passed through. Garret waited (nearly having to hold the sorcerer down to prevent him from attacking) quietly and held his breath. Gradually, the voices sounded from further and further away. Once the spiders had passed, he let out a sigh of relief, then hauled his comrade to his feet. They were safe for now, but there was no time to relax…

The first room being clear was a hint that Garret had already been through this area, but every subsequent one they checked confirmed this. Each chamber contained only dead arachnae or transformed incubi. Ok, so he'd been through here before… But where was _here_? Garret reached into the back of his mind, trying to orient himself. Humans were fine and all, but he needed to get back to Ilona! Wait, where was that man running off to?!

The Order's soldier had gotten away from him and was running off to cause God knows what kind of damage. "Wait!" He shouted and sprinted after him. Where was he going?! The soldier skidded to a stop at the edge of another tunnel entrance, panting, allowing Garret to catch up. When he approached, what he heard was the mutterings of a madman.

"I'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadKillThemKillThemKillThemKillThem…"

When Garret got closer, he saw what the human was staring at. The central cave of the complex, full of arachnae lay before them. The man turned to him and, before he could react, threw his arms around him in a crushing hug.

"ThankyouThankyouThankyou… Run!"

Then he shoved him away, into another tunnel.

"SarahSarahSarahSarahSarahSarah… I'M COMING, SARAH!"

With a final cry, the human leapt from the tunnel mouth into the cavern and began working his magic. Though Garret couldn't see what was going on from where he'd been shoved to, he heard the cries of arachnae and the shattering of rocks. Should he help? That man would kill many mamono… maybe he should go back and help them capture him – see if he could save any. With the shake of his head, he pushed that aside. Doing that would put him at risk… He couldn't die yet, he needed to get back to Ilona, that was all that mattered.

* * *

The poor girl didn't look like she'd moved an inch when he finally made his way back to her. She lay there, slumped in a corner and holding herself, with one of those crude stone spears at her feet. Someone must have come by and given that to her, but she hadn't moved to join the search parties. When he approached her, her eyes lit up with a combination of confusion, joy, and… something else. Was that concern? It didn't matter! He was here for her now.

"Garret, you…"

"I came back, Ilona. I told you we'd leave this place together."

She opened her arms and Garret dropped to his knees to pull her into a hug. She trembled against him, tears of joy dripping onto his back as she pressed him against her.

"I thought you were… Garret..."

"Shh…"

She didn't let go, so he rubbed her back with a hand and tried to comfort her.

"It's alright, Ilona… Everything's alright now. Let's get out of here and go somewhere far away."

"Garret, I… Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too, Ilona."

With that, he pulled away, then leaned in for a kiss – a kiss she passionately returned. As they locked lips, she reached down to unbuckle his pants, letting them fall away, and he raised a hand to cup her breast. They would eventually leave to start their new life, but that could wait. Having just reunited, there was something much more important on both of their minds.

* * *

The way back to the surface was much, much calmer than the way in. Ilona refused to let him walk, offering to allow Garret to ride on her back, almost as if she was a centaur. This arrangement warded off most suspicion from the search parties (why would the intruding or escaping human be _riding_ an arachne?), but the spider legs made the logistics of it a bit difficult. He ended up having to sit far forward, pressed against her back, legs and arms wrapped around her human-half from behind. Maybe that had been the plan, keeping him close to her. Unfortunately, while it eliminated suspicion, this arrangement got them many, many strange looks and sometimes downright hostility from other arachnae.

"Hey you! Yes, you! What are you doing with that human? He doesn't look broken, he should be in a web!"

An unarmed Arachne confronted them in the hall.

"I-I… I'm moving him. To a new room."

Like a shark smelling blood, the other monster sensed her hesitation and moved in closer, a devilish grin on her face.

"Is that so… Then why isn't he tied up? What are you playing at, human-born? Maybe I should take him off your hands instead… _you_ don't seem to know what you're doing~"

Hearing those words, Ilona stiffened, then swung her spear, causing the other to hop back from the sweep.

"NO!"

With possibly the first outburst of willfulness Garret had seen, Ilona followed up with a thrust that the other spider barely managed to avoid – a slight cut dripping blood on her side showed how close she had been to being run through.

"I won't let you take him!"

Seeing that she was serious and, more importantly, recognizing that fighting her unarmed wasn't a smart move, the spider scowled and skittered away.

"Tch… The mistress will hear about this, Ilona."

Garret, who had remained still and silent throughout this, couldn't help but smirk a bit. Both he and Ilona knew their 'mistress' wouldn't be hearing anything at all.

* * *

The snickers and taunts from passing arachnae aside, after that little confrontation, they managed to make their way to the surface exit without incident. Getting out, though, was not nearly as easy as Garret had hoped it would be. Eight arachnae, all armed with spears, stood guard at the entrance, half watching The Order's lines from their hiding places, half looking inward for more escapees. Despite Ilona being one of their number, the lead Arachne saw what they were doing immediately.

"Trying to escape in the confusion, Ilona? Stealing men is a capital crime, you know…"

Ilona gulped and gripped her spear tighter as the four monsters advanced, weapons raised.

"Why don't you head back to your room and we'll forget this ever happened… if you leave the human behind. Standing guard is boring, we need something to play with."

There was no way Ilona would be fighting eight other mamono on her own… much less so with such a gap in experience. From the way they acted, these spiders looked like they had seen combat before.

"N-No, I-"

She tried to object, but Garret murmured a quiet "Shhh…" in her ear and slowly slid off of her back.

"Garret…"

"Its ok, Ilona… I'll be… fine."

He took one shaky step forward, then another, slowly walking towards the guards. Magic… Magic… he tried to focus on it, but thoughts kept drifting. Breasts, women, sex,… thoughts of it all clouded his mind as he took another step towards the Arachnae guarding the entrance. They were so beautiful… So, so beautiful…

"Thank you... But I don't think we need a traitor like you in our nest. Charlotte, grab the human. Sabrina, Alice, take care of her."

"Wait, no!"

The sudden, fearful shriek shot a bolt of clarity into Garret. Ilona! Magic! Fire! His thoughts froze, then focused on an objective with lightning speed. Ilona! He had to protect Ilona! His hands crackled with power, then ignited in a burst of blue-purple flames. The lead Arachne instinctually flinched and stepped back, before swinging her spear towards him.

"He's the fire ma-!"

She didn't get the time to finish her sentence. Garret threw both hands forward to shoot a column of fire, easily a meter in diameter. Such a blast nearly incinerated the first arachne and caused the rest to scatter, but Garret wasn't done yet. He lept into the middle of their group, an explosion of fire propelling him forward, then twisted to the side as an array of spears were thrust at him. One scraped his cheek, narrowly missing his head, and another caused a serious gash across his side. It didn't matter, though! That would heal on its own, but this wouldn't! He repaid their assaults by reaching his hands out in front and behind him, shooting two more blasts of fire then dropping to the ground as more spears cut through the air above him. He was strong. He was fast! He felt wonderful! Oh Gods, he felt so, so good!"

On the ground, he rolled to the side, trying to dodge another thrust, but the monster was too fast and stuck his thigh with her spear. Garret cried out in pain, then sprayed fire across his foes, getting them to back off, taking the spear with them. It didn't seem to have hit anything vital, and he limped to his feet as fast as he was able. It would heal, nothing to worry about! Then he braced himself and brought forth more flames.

"Garret!"

From behind him, Ilona cried out in concern, but her instinctual fear of fire was too strong to allow her to rush to his aid. All the better, Garret thought. He was dancing in his ring of fire, shooting scorching spears, fireballs, and gouts of flame every which way. There was no fatigue coming from this at all! Such power! The overwhelming sensation of strength and superiority flooding through his mind caused Garret to involuntarily laugh. A spear hit his shoulder, but he killed its owner with an eruption of fire from underneath. Another shot towards his heart, but he twisted to the side and threw a bolt of fire into hers. Then he stepped to the side to avoid what he thought would be another attack and blasted an inanimate corpse. He spun away from empty air and set another body alight with a wave of flame. A third corpse met its end with another fireball. A voice shouting over the flames stopped him short of detonating a fourth body. He froze and finally began to comprehend the scene around him. Eight bodies in various states of disintegration lay scattered around the cave, their stone weapons having partially melted from the incredible heat of the flames that had slain them. Dead. They were dead. He was safe. Ilona was safe.

"Garret! Garret, stop! Its over!"

From down the hall, Ilona tried to calm him, but though he stopped his magic, a fire burned inside him that would not be extinguished by words alone.

"Ilona! IlonaIlonaIlonaIlona!"

He felt strong! Powerful! This was how a man should feel all the time! Was he wounded? It didn't matter! How could it matter when he felt so good! His cuts would heal on their own, his amazing body could take care of itself. He had to show her! He had to show his love how wonderful he felt! He had to make her feel the same!

With the fire having stopped, Ilona slowly crept forward.

"Garret, are you o-MMPH!"

Without waiting for her to finish, he lept into her arms, pressed his body against hers and forced her into a kiss. Ilona resisted for a moment, more out of surprise than anything else, then quickly accepted it, returning it ferociously. More arachnae might have been attracted by the sounds of that fight, but Garret didn't care. All that mattered was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen – his woman – who held him. Ilona's hands were occupied holding Garret's head against hers, so he reached one down to spread her lower lips, before thrusting forward with his almost-painfully-erect cock. His fight, his victory, had excited him to the core, and he needed to blow off steam. Thankfully, Ilona was more than happy to help him with this. As they ground against each other, Garret lost track of his surroundings, focused entirely on her wetness, her warmth, her breasts and her beautiful face. Other arachnae might have come and gone, but Garret got the vague recollection that he'd warded them off with a few absent-minded blasts of fire. Eventually the two reached their climaxes and came together with powerful orgasms that left both of them panting as they cuddled in the afterglow. Once they had collected themselves, they kissed one last time, then stepped into the morning sunlight.

 _Throb_

The sight of The Order's lines across the valley caused something to stir within Garret's mind. He felt drawn to them, like there was something… no, some _one_ there beaconing him. Ilona noticed him stop moving and paused, a concerned look on her face.

"Garret, is something wrong?"

"I just…"

He shook his head, then took another look. His vision seemed to unconsciously focus on a specific part of the line and, though he couldn't see that far, somehow the image of a red-haired swordswoman flickered into his mind. Who was she? Why was she drawing him to her?

"I need to go… Something's bothering me…"

He started to walk towards the battle line, but Ilona grabbed him by the wrist and stopped him.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Garret. Come on, you said we'd leave together, right? Let's go. Forget about them."

"Yeah, I…"

He turned to leave with her, but he couldn't bring himself to take a step. Why was that? Why was he feeling drawn to that woman more so than to the love of his life whom he had just rescued from the clutches of a sadistic mamono society? They'd been through a lot together, and she was so beautiful… Why was he feeling some sort of dissatisfaction with her? Well, no, dissatisfaction was the wrong word, he did love her, and nothing would ever change that, but… This felt even more important, somehow. Like he would never be able to rest without finding out what this draw was.

"Sorry, A-Ilona… I need to do this. Wait for me here, ok?"

He tried to pull away, but her grip remained firm.

"No! No, Garret, I won't let you! That's The Order! You'll be killed!"

"I'll be fine, Ilona, I jus-"

"You said you loved me, you said we'd escape together!"

"I do love you Ilona! And we will escape together! Please, just trust me! I'll come right back!"

Ilona let go of his hand and, taking this as permission, Garret turned back towards The Order's lines and took a step forward. Then he heard Ilona begin to cry. Her sobs tore at his heart, but he needed to _know_. He'd be right back, and then she'd see that everything was fine. He took another step forward. Then he heard her whisper something.

"Don't leave me…"

Suddenly a blast of thread wrapped around his waist and pulled him backwards. Ilona caught him, and he found himself trapped in a crushing embrace.

"NO! No! NoNoNoNo! You can't leave me! I won't let you leave me! I love you, Garret! I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! I'll do anything for you, so please do this for me!"

Surprised, he struggled in her grip, his hand ending up against her head, but she showed no signs of letting go.

"Ilona, stop! I told you I love you, but I need to see something! I'll come back! I'll be fine! You'll see!"

When she looked up at him, Garret froze. Her eyes. Despite the struggle, both physically and emotionally, they looked completely empty. Unfocused. She stopped moving, though she didn't let him go, and whispered her next words.

"You left me once… I won't let you leave me again."

Then she shot her head forward, biting hard onto his neck. Garret flinched and tried to push her away, but he couldn't stop her from injecting a massive dose of venom.

"YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! NEVER LEAVE ME, GARRET!"

She thrust her head forward again and, when he blocked her from biting his neck, bit his shoulder, injecting even more venom.

"ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU!"

The shouting, the web, the pain of the bites, the unnerving, yet pleasant feeling of the venom working through him,… the sensations all seemed strangely familiar, and Garret suddenly started to remember things. There was a fight! He had been captured! Visions of the arachnae ambush flooded through his head. What happened then? He woke up in a pile and had venom injected into him!

Ilona kept screaming and tried to bite him again, but he managed to fend this one off.

But why was he here in the first place? He was… He was a soldier of The Order! And that meant the red-haired girl was… … Who was she?! As the venom rushed through him, he found his sudden burst of clarity rapidly fading again. Fight it! Think! She had to be close to him, there had to be some connection there! The mind-fog rolled in even thicker, but before it smothered his thoughts completely, a single name appeared before him. Annika. Suddenly he knew what had to be done. With the last of his will, he called forth an explosion and pressed his hands against Ilona. Then he lost himself completely as the venom did its work, and the world faded under a fog of lust and desire.

* * *

Where was he? Garret found himself standing in what he thought was a long line of people, but he couldn't quite tell. A pitch-black void surrounded him, with the darkness occasionally pierced by spots of blinding light that hurt to look at. He rubbed his eyes and the world started to come more and more into focus. The bright spots softened and expanded, illuminating the area for him. The widening wave of light washed over the line, the stairs carved from gold, and the clouds beneath them, before reaching up to a brilliant blue sky.

… What was this place?

A loud bang pierced the gusts of wind billowing around him, and the line took a step forward. Soldiers, civilians, merchants in colourful garb all stood in the line, though not one of them looked over thirty. Garret looked down at himself and found that while he was still wearing his typical rust-coloured robes, they were perfectly clean, and that the few scars he had accumulated were absent from his skin.

 _Bang._

He turned to ask the man behind him where they were, but he was just as confused as Garret was. The same was true with the woman ahead of him.

 _Bang._

At least this place was peaceful. Despite the height, Garret felt no fear, and the gusting winds were more comforting than cold. The beautiful, endless view of white, fluffy clouds below them and a clear blue sky above also put his heart at ease. Nothing bad could possibly happen here, he thought as he obeyed the line and took another step forward.

 _Bang… Bang… Bang…_

Slowly but surely the line moved forward. As time went on, Garret eventually spotted the destination the stairs were leading to – a lone cloud suspended high above the cloudbanks below them. The staircase lead up into it, disappearing from view when it entered. Something told Garret there was no way that cloud could hold everyone from the line, but since people were ascending to it, one at a time, they had to be going _somewhere_.

When it was Garret's turn to enter the cloud, the start of it was wispy and transparent. Its moisture was cool and comforting on his skin and, when he turned to look back, only slightly obscured his view. A few more steps, though, and the visibility rapidly decreased. After the fifth or so step, he could only see a foot ahead of him, and likewise, his vision behind had been clouded. Five more steps, though, and he saw _something_ glowing ahead, beckoning him onwards. He dutifully followed the tempo of the banging, taking a step forward each time, despite the fog getting so thick he couldn't see the person in front of him. Just how was that light filtering through this? His question was answered after another step.

With a final bang, Garret took a step forward and found himself standing in a circle of light, before what looked to be an open-air courtroom. The heavenly light that shone down on him also beamed backwards into the fog, guiding those who were yet to come. It must be some way supernatural… In front of him, lay what he assumed to be the judge's bench, though it was far different from anything he'd have seen in Naton or Northreach. For one, it was, like the stairs, made of intricately carved solid gold, and additionally, was built much higher, such that it towered over him. It had also been expanded to seat seven judges, rather than a single one. Said judges were likewise otherworldly. Beautiful women with long, golden hair and blue eyes sat at the benches. Their seating seemed to be organized by age, with the older, more motherly looking ones sitting towards the edge, and a very young, teenage looking girl sitting in the center. It was this one that smiled a beautiful smile down at him and announced her greetings.

"Welcome back, Garret! We've been expecting you."

Before he could ask any important questions like who she was or where they were, she disappeared in a flash of light, then reappeared standing just in front of him. She bent over forward, hands clasped behind her back and made a playful show of looking him over.

"Hmm… Hmmm… Mhmm…"

She danced forward with a twirl, orbiting around him as she examined him from the sides and rear, her poofy white dress billowing around her as she did. Occasionally she poked him, causing him to flinch and try to step away.

"Well it seems ya've really done it this time. You're actually all here. The soul is nicely formed, and you can see properly… you might even remember some of this tomorrow."

Garret tried to turn to keep up with her movements, but she kept flitting around him like a too-energetic puppy.

"Wait, st…" He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself and suppress his rising confusion. "Stop. What are you talking about? Who are you? A-A-And _where_ are we?"

The girl halted in front of him and put a hand on her chin, like she had only just realized he could possibly have questions.

"Right, of course, you're probably very confused."

She giggled, then stood up straight, bringing her hands to her chest and beaming proudly.

" _I_ am the Chief God."

Then she opened her arms and did a little twirl.

"This is the heavenly court, and…"

She leaned forward, grinning, and poked Garret directly in the chest.

"And _you_ are dead."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Was this chapter late because I had horrible writer's block, or because I wrote 10,000 words instead of my usual 6-7,000? It's a mystery for the ages, but regardless, I managed to get an update out. Huzzah! Unfortunately, though, I am out of time. I've been extremely busy lately, and it looks like it's about to get a lot worse. I only managed to do one pass of editing before posting this, instead of my preferred week-long marathon of revisions, so please forgive the dip in quality. I'll try to do better next time.

Alright, with that out of the way, time to get down to business. This chapter had a lot of topics I wanted to hit on, from corruption, to heroics, to character resolutions.

Let's frame this discussion by talking about the characters. Of course, I couldn't just leave Ilona laying around. I tried to set her up as having been repeatedly abandoned and abused, first by her father, then by the arachnae who don't accept her, and finally by Garret, who tried to comfort her, but ran the minute he got the chance. That's not going to do good things to a person's mental state. Because of that, when Garret came back, having been almost entirely corrupted, I thought it would be a fitting thing to make her go into a sort of yandere, ultra-possessive mode. She'd lost everyone, but the one guy who had been kind to her came back and even fought for her freedom. Then, despite him honestly intending to return, he says he's going to leave again, and Ilona… Well, you saw just how well she took that. I think this was the most fitting way I could have ended her story.

Nathan's little sub-plot has been stretched across several chapters and, though it hasn't been resolved yet (there's going to be another mention of it in the next chapter), this part was vital to his story. He was also a way I could demonstrate what corruption looks like for someone without Garret's strange resilience. He was holding on by sheer force of will, with _something_ driving him to keep going, but even so, he was barely sane towards the end there. I wanted to give sort of a 'heroic everyman' kind of vibe here, where you see someone without any special gifts pushing himself and managing to succeed a bit in the face of impossible odds, but still ultimately perishing in the act.

That brings us now to Garret. In particular, I wanted to show a bit of how, I think, corruption from demonic energy would work. It's now that I realize the voices were a bit of a mistake. I think they worked reasonably well in the last chapter, but I just had no idea what to do with them in this one. Fortunately, the fact that they were technically a way for his mind to defend itself gave me a way out. With Garret becoming more and more corrupted, the voices got quieter and quieter as he slowly started losing his own will. Another signal of this corruption was the last few paragraphs with him and Nathan. He gradually stops referring to Nathan by name, first substituting his relationship and profession, then his allegiance, and finally, only referring to him by his race. He also started forgetting about the humans he was originally intending to rescue, eventually declaring that Ilona was the only thing that mattered. Since the transformation is stated to rewrite a person's loyalties, I figured it would rewrite the recollections of their relationships as well. It would be hard to be loyal to the Demon Lord, when your friends, family, etc. were all a part of The Order. It also mentioned turbo-charging a man's spirit energy production, so I like the idea that, for mages, corruption actually made them even more powerful, provided they could hold on to their sense of self. As shown with Nathan, though, that's not an easy thing to do for most people.

There are a few other things I set up in this chapter, but they're going to be explored in more depth in the next update, so I'll discuss them then. It's getting late, and I'm out of time, so I think I'm going to call it here. I hope everyone had wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.

Once again, thank you everyone for reading, and…

Until next time, Sayonara!


	12. Day 58 - Dead Again

**Day 58 / Dead Again**

"And _you_ are dead."

The words shocked Garret, but somehow not as much as he'd expected. Maybe it was because he'd already heard that before… The more startling revelation was that the Chief God was standing there in front of him.

"S-Sorry, my Lady!"

While not an especially pious man, Garret had read enough of the scriptures to know that when God addressed you, they were due far more respect than a simple king or queen. He immediately dropped to his knees, blowing before her and apologizing for his unintentional rudeness. In response to this, the girl giggled.

"Yes, yes, bow before your Goddess, she-who-commands-the-universe! Tremble at my divine radiance, for I have chosen to grace you with my presence!"

She giggled again, though Garret was too busy having his face on the floor to see what she was doing. Suddenly he felt a foot nudging at his side.

"I'm only joking, Garret. Come on!~ Get up, get up, you look really silly right now."

At her prodding, he slowly raised his head and got to his feet.

"Sorry, I just-"

"Yes, yes, you wanted to be respectful. Thank you, but that's not really necessary. Being stiff and formal is boring!"

Garret looked the girl up and down, completely perplexed. "I… I guess?"

Almost without waiting for his reply, she kept talking.

"Good! Well, we're not going to judge you just yet, so have a seat."

At the snap of her fingers, a deeply cushioned armchair materialized directly behind him, then shot forward. It took him by surprise as it collided into his calves, causing him to fall back into it. In front of him, a second chair was summoned for the Chief God, though she sat down into it with much less flailing than Garret.

"Comfortable? Good! We've got some time to kill, and I bet you've got a bunch of questions. Go ahead! Ask me anything!"

The girl made her final statement by swinging her arms wide in a welcoming gesture, then flopping backwards, sinking deep into the chair. Garret, though, was at a loss for what to say. Just what should he ask a God? There were so many things, and her far-too-energetic demeanor had left him so completely disoriented that he was having difficulty organizing his thoughts, let along forming a meaningful question. Then there was the problem of what he _could_ ask. She said not to worry about formalities, and to ask her anything, but…

"Hello~?" The girl reached up and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Right, S-"

He shook his head and was about to apologize, but the girl gave him a condescending look, like she was about to start teasing him for saying 'sorry' too much, so he bit his tongue.

"I'm just a bit overwhelmed, I need a moment, please."

She nodded and patiently waited while Garret tried to organize his thoughts. He was dead and he was in the heavenly court. The Chief God was here to talk, but wasn't going to judge him, and they had to wait… until what? He'd better just start at the top. Try to come to terms with what was going on.

"Um, Uh… So, I'm dead."

She cheerfully nodded in response.

"Yup!"

"But you aren't going to judge me?"

"Nope!"

"… Why?"

The girl smiled and tented her fingers.

"Well you've already died once, Garret. It didn't stick then, and I don't think it's gonna stick now, either. Right, Michelle?"

She raised her head and shouted to someone behind Garret. When he turned in his chair, he saw that, above the stairs and fog wall, there were another set of hitherto unnoticed benches. These ones were full of Valkyrie. The front most one, whose exquisitely adorned and engraved golden armour set her apart from the rest, replied with a shouted "Yes, My Lady!". Seeing this, the girl sat back and shrugged.

"See? Not gonna waste my time on someone who won't be hangin' around."

That just left Garret even more confused.

"What do you mean I'm not going to be staying? I'm dead, aren't I?"

His last memories of standing on that mountainside came rushing back to him.

"Wait, _why_ am I dead? I just got corrupted, didn't I? Shouldn't I still be down there?"

The girl cocked her head to the side and raised a finger.

"Well, technically, you are. Your body changed enough that you were no longer 'you', and that broke the ties with your soul. It's still wandering around, somewhere down there, guided by your corrupted mind."

That was a creepy thought… that a twisted version of him was still acting on its own down on the earth….

"It's not going to hurt anyone, is it?"

"It'll probably try to. But… Eh. I'm sure Lukas can deal with it."

Sweat started to form on Garret's brow as he realized where his 'body' would be going.

"Well. Can we, uh, do something about it?"

The Chief God smirked as she picked up on his anxiety.

"You're worried about Annika, aren't you?"

He nodded emphatically.

"Of course! He'll be heading right to her, and I don't… I don't think she'll be able to fight 'me'…"

"Well don't be. Michelle tipped off your hero a while back. Lukas and Brynhild will protect her."

Garret exhaled and sunk back into his chair, relived.

"Thank you."

Then he turned and repeated his thanks to the High Valkyrie, who silently nodded back to him.

"Want to watch?"

In truth, he didn't know. How would that feel, seeing 'him' fighting against all he stood for? But…

"Yeah… I need to know what happens."

With a wave of her hand, the Chief God conjured a scrying pool between the two of them. The waters flickered and sparked, then smoothed to an almost glass-like surface. Within the pool, a blurry image manifested and, after a moment, focused in on the subject of their spying – a partially naked man, running down a mountain.

* * *

Annika… Annika… he had to get to Annika. 'Garret' sprinted down the mountain, nearly tripping over the rocky terrain, such was his haste. He had to take her away from here. The poor girl only knew life within The Order, and he had to show her there was another way. In all fairness to her, he had been in the same boat only a few hours before, and probably would have hated himself for switching sides like this, but… the him from before didn't know how much he'd been missing out on. He felt strong! He felt powerful! He sprinted down the mountain, nearly tireless, his body working like a flawless, finely tuned machine. The fatigue that would have normally crept up on him was muted to the point of being nearly unnoticeable, and his breathing, only erratic because of the excitement he felt. Was this what perfection felt like?

The Order… He loved the people he had met there, but they were dead wrong in their teachings! They taught that being transformed was a bad thing, but how could something that felt so good be wrong? He flexed the muscles in his arm as he examined their definition. Whatever this demonic energy was doing to him, it was making him stronger! He felt like he could climb a mountain! Hell, after he turned Annika, he probably would. He could swim the wildest seas, wrestle beasts on even footing, and take on whatever the world would throw at him! The only thing that saddened him was the thought of the thousands of men and woman in the army before him who were foolishly struggling against this. They were trying to kill monsters. Burn away this perfection. Many of them would be shown the light, but some would die without ever having a chance to experience these wonderful feelings. Unlike how he had thought of mamono before, 'Garret' didn't hate these humans. The rank-and-file soldiers were misguided. Lead astray. No, 'Garret' only felt pity for them. The ones he hated were their priests and heroes, the people who, with their power and prestige, turned the common folk against the wonderful, liberating truth – the truth that humans belonged with monsters.

"Hey, we've got another one! You there! Get on the ground, a priest will check you over."

As he approached The Order's lines, a soldier with a crossbow alerted the guards and called out to him. He couldn't obey that command, though, he had to get to Annika. If he waited around, they'd kill him once they uncovered his transformation. Pretending to comply, he raised his hands and began to crouch down. Poor soul… 'Garret' didn't want to kill him, but The Order's propaganda had made him his enemy. Maybe he could just wound him? Even if it was necessary, stealing the man's chance for a wonderful life seemed far too cruel.

"Alright, good. Just wait there and we'll get you cleaned up in no time."

When he saw 'Garret' obeying his order, the crossbowman relaxed and lowered his weapon. That mistake allowed him to make his move. In the blink of an eye, 'Garret' threw a spear of flame forward, narrowly missing the man, but shattering his weapon. Good! Exactly what he was aiming for! The sudden assault caused the soldier to flinch in surprise, but the spear and swordsmen ahead of him wasted no time in drawing their weapons and charging towards their newly revealed foe.

"YOU WON'T STOP ME!"

'Garret' waited, gathering his power, as the men closed the distance. Once they were just about in melee range and had raised their weapons, he flung his arms skyward and conjured a pillar of the dark purple flame beneath his attackers. Not wanting to kill them, he hadn't stoked the flames as hot as he could have, but the heat still badly burned the men. The sheer force of the explosion was the effect he had been focusing on instead. It easily tossed a pair of his assailants six feet into the air and knocked the others sideways onto the ground, burned, battered, and possibly with some broken bones… but not dead. 'Garret' nodded in satisfaction, then sprinted forward and, propelled by a blast of the purple flames, shot through the gap he had created in the line. He didn't have much time. Soldiers from further up and down the mountain had noticed the explosion and were starting to run towards him. He had to get to Annika quickly and get out before half The Order was chasing them.

Having pierced the frontline, his instinctual draw to his lover guided him further up the mountain, towards the lines of reserve soldiers. Annika would be there, for sure! Fortunately, he didn't have to cover much ground. There was a cliff between him and his objective, but the pull he felt was coming from on top of it. An ordinary human would have to run the long way around to get to the top, but 'Garret' was feeling anything but ordinary. He jumped onto the cliff, grabbing onto a rock with a vice-like grip. Not for the first time, he thanked his increased strength and stamina. Then he began to climb, hand over hand, grabbing sturdy outcroppings when he found them, and blasting new handholds when he didn't. He had to be fast! He didn't know how long it would be before he started taking crossbow fire, and he needed to-

A shrill whistle interrupted his thoughts, followed by an explosive blast of pure force that threw him off of his handhold, sideways. He tried to catch himself as he fell but couldn't find anything to grab! No! He couldn't die! Not now! Annika!

Another blast of force broke his fall, and he hit the ground with a hard, but survivable impact. The collision forced the air from his lungs, and 'Garret' found himself gasping for breath, stunned. From beyond his vision, the source of the magic spoke.

"It seems like we were a little late… Brynhild, can you grab him?"

Wait, Brynhild!? The sudden mention of the Valkyrie caused 'Garret' to start and he began to scramble to his feet. Before him stood Lukas, clad in blue and gold armour, a sword in one hand, the other glowing with magical force. Brynhild was beside him, likewise armoured, though she was holding a Valkyrie's traditional spear at the ready instead. His chest still spasming as he forced himself to breath, 'Garret' tried to stand up and reach for his magic but was interrupted by another blast of force. Lukas shot a hand forward and 'Garret' found himself immediately somersaulting through the air. When he landed on his back, he spotted a winged shadow in the sky that dove towards him. The Valkyrie! She must have taken flight while he was in the air! He had to-! A flaming spear burst from 'Garret's' hand and flew towards his assailant, but bent harmlessly around her wards. He tried to conjure another blast of fire, but she was moving too fast. He aborted his attack and roll to the side to avoid getting crushed.

With a loud thud, Brynhild landed where he had just been laying, dust flying into the air from the force of the impact. Having rolled away, 'Garret' sprung to his feet, then stepped in for a punch. If he couldn't hurt her with magic, he'd beat her to death, armour or no armour! He had to kill her! She was one of those responsible for this! The Valkyrie easily deflected his punch, then shoved him back. 'Garret' stepped to the side, then forward, trying to close and land another hit on her, but his vision suddenly went white. Having twirled her spear, she swung the blunt end with terrifying speed and cracked him across the jaw. The force of impact and pain caused him to stagger sideways, but before he could rally himself, his foe followed up with another strike. She hit him under the chin with another flashing blow, and everything went dark. 'Garret' fell backwards into a crumpled heap, out cold.

* * *

"See~ I told you they'd be fine."

Garret shook his head and wiped his brow in relief, thankful that no one had been killed, but especially grateful that Annika hadn't been put in danger.

"Yeah… what will they do now? They didn't kill 'me'."

Having finished watching, the Chief God made a wave of her hand, and the pool vanished in a flash of light.

"Well, you're actually quite the lucky duck, being born a guy. Corrupted women are impossible to bring back, but demonic energy doesn't change men _that_ much. They'll get y'all cleaned up, then I'll send you home."

Wait, if they could cleanse transformed men, why did The Order have a kill-on-sight policy?! When he leaned forward and asked, the Chief God flailed her arms in the air and rapidly backtracked.

"NoNoNoNoNo, it's not that simple! Cleansing a changed man isn't something a priest can do; it requires a phenomenal amount of energy! Coming back from something like that is nothing short of a miracle, but… Well… I do happen to have a monopoly on miracles."

She smirked a little at the last part of her statement.

"So only Heroes can do that, and even then, only rarely?"

"Yup. It ain't easy."

Ok… Things were starting to make a bit more sense now. He was going to be revived… but that seemed like such a waste, if was as difficult as she was making it out.

"I see… But why me? Why didn't they use this power on one of the sergeants we lost in the forest, or save it for if an officer gets corrupted? I'm just a sorcerer, I'm nothing special."

"You're a hero, Garret, of course you're special. Not a divine one, sure, but you saved twenty-something lives."

Those words twisted a knot in his stomach. A hero? Being praised by his God should have made him happy, but all it did was make him uncomfortable. He'd done some nice things, yes, but did he really deserve this praise? He'd failed so many times, he'd gotten Nathan killed, and he fell for a monster, which was the exact opposite thing a member of The Order was supposed to do. Suddenly self-conscious, he dropped his gaze to the floor. Calling him a 'hero' seemed like disrespecting others who deserved that title more.

"Don't call me that, please. I'm not a hero. Anyone could have done what I did, probably better."

"That doesn't matter, Garret. You could have escaped with the first group, but you went back to rescue more. I know your thoughts; I felt your fear. Despite being afraid, you went into that mountain twice. If that's not something a hero does, what is?"

He let out a half-hearted grunt in agreement, but in reality, felt anything but.

"A hero would have saved Nathan, or-"

He cut himself off. What are you doing, Garret? Trying to fish for sympathy? From a God? That's pathetic. Cut it out. Don't throw your problems on someone who, quite literally, has the weight of the world on their-

"Garret. Stop that."

He looked up to the voice that interrupted his thoughts. The Chief God was leaning forward, looking concerned. Despite her small frame, her now-serious demeanor made her seem much more mature than before.

"I'm your Goddess, Garret, I know what you're thinking. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Sorry, I-"

She stood up and walked over to him, then put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're only human, Garret. I don't expect perfection from anyone. Not my Valkyries, not my heroes, and not you. I only ask that you try your best, that's all you can do."

Feelings of regret and shame began to well up within him, and unconsciously, he raised his hand to wipe a tear that had started to form. That was wrong. Trying didn't matter, all that mattered was…

"But that's not good enough, is it?! I let so many people down… I couldn't save Catherine. If I had noticed something was wrong, she might still live. I couldn't help Rin. If I was stronger, maybe I'd…"

The tears were coming quicker now, and Garret took a ragged breath, trying to avoid outright sobbing. It was like an emotional dam had shattered. All the times he had said he was 'fine' came rushing back, all of the times he should have done better. Half of the memories weren't painful, but they hurt him none the less. To him, they were evidence that he wasn't worth this.

"Nathan… I-I should have forced him to leave. B-but I didn't. I was scared. I didn't want to lose control, and… look what happened… I still failed. I should have killed Ilona… maybe then I'd have made it out, but I couldn't. I felt so bad for her… I still feel bad for her. I couldn't kill those children, they looked so harmless. That last house on the plains. Were there any in there? Probably… What's going to happen when they grow up? How many humans are they going to drag away?"

He looked up with watery eyes at the girl comforting him. He was being comforted by a child, God or not. He couldn't even handle keeping his composure. Pathetic.

"Why?! No! Don't! Pick someone else to save, I can't even kill monsters without feeling guilty! I'm a terrible soldier, I'm-"

With irresistible strength, the girl suddenly grabbed Garret by the arm and pulled him up, into a hug. The minute she closed her embrace around him, his mind fell silent, and the memories faded. He felt… happy. Calm. A comforting warmth enveloped him as the little girl held on, arms wrapped around his waist, and his doubts and insecurities disappeared. 'The peace of God, which transcends all understanding'… the only thing that could adequately describe this feeling was that excerpt from one of The Order's scriptures.

"You're a wonderful follower, Garret." The Chief God murmured as she held onto him. "You're trying so hard, and I love you for it… but you can't blame yourself for everything. You can't stop all the evil in the world."

"I… Sorry."

She looked up at him with a smile.

"Stop apologizing, there's nothing to be sorry for. Are you feeling better now?"

He nodded and hugged her back.

"Good."

She stayed like this for a little longer, making sure he was, in fact, fine, before eventually letting go.

"You're a strong person, Garret, but don't force yourself to do the impossible. If you can't handle something, there's no shame in letting it go. I only ask that you do your best, I don't want my followers to suffer needlessly."

Though his stomach's knot had been untwisted by the peace of her hug, her reassurance was still nice to hear. Despite it, though, he didn't think he could fully follow her advice. What a strange notion, to be disagreeing with his God.

"Yeah, but,… I have to keep trying. I don't think I could stand it if I didn't… Maybe I can help end the war a day earlier, then no one else will have to go through this. That's worth it, right?"

Contrary to what he was expecting, the Chief God frowned when she heard this.

"Well, there's that way of thinking about it too…"

For a moment, the girl almost looked sad, but she quickly perked up, back to her usual hyperactive self.

"Right! Well, if you're feeling better, I think our hero is just about done down there. We'd better work on getting you home."

She snapped her fingers and the chairs disappeared. Then she waved her hand, beaconing him to follow her.

"Come, come! We don't want to worry them by being late."

She led him towards the fog wall, but there was one, nagging question that Garret couldn't shake. He hadn't gotten a chance to ask about any grand mysteries of the universe, but if he didn't get an answer to this, he knew he'd regret it.

"Uh... My Lady?"

"Yes, Garret?"

"One more question, if I may?"

She twirled around, crossed her arms behind her back and smiled. He took this to mean 'yes'.

"Are you… Is the Chief God really a hyperactive little girl?"

A massive, mischievous grin spread itself across her face.

"Why? Don'tchya like me?"

She giggled, then continued with a look of extreme smugness on her face and an ominous sounding voice.

"Alright, here's the deal, Garret. I don't look like this, I don't sound like this, and these words aren't even what I'm saying right now. Confused?"

His look answered that question for him.

"I'm beyond your comprehension. I'm an omnipotent, omniscient being, unconstrained by the rules of your universe. Your puny little mind would snap trying to comprehend even one one-billionth of my true nature, so instead I took a form you'd be comfortable with. If I'm acting like a little girl, Garret, that's because you can _understand_ a little girl."

The foreboding speech over, she reverted back to her previous, cheerful demeanor and shrugged.

"Or maybe I'm just pullin' your leg. Maybe you actually do worship a little girl in the sky.~ Either way, know that I love you, Garret. I love all of humanity, and I'll be there for you every step of the way."

That wasn't exactly a concrete answer, and she seemed to be having a bit too much fun causing yet more confusion, but something told him that was all he was going to get. Her answer delivered, the Chief God twirled around again and began to skip away. This time, when they went through the fog wall, they didn't descend the stairs. Instead, the girl took his hand and guided him off to the side, as she plotted a course through the blinding mists. When they emerged, Garret found himself standing on the edge of a cloud, with nothing but empty blue sky ahead of him.

"This is your stop, Garret. Thanks for droppin' by!"

"Oh uh… No problem. I didn't really have a choice, though."

She giggled at that.

"No, no you really didn't. But don't worry, I think it'll be a while before this happens again."

"Thank you for… well, everything. I really appreciated your words."

Her smug grin came back as he said that.

"I know. You're welcome, Garret."

With that said, he peered over the edge, into the endless sky and towards the distant, second cloudbank below. She said this was his stop, but… was he supposed to jump? He didn't feel fear up here, but there was still a tiny, residual bit of unease.

"Come ooon~ You're taking too long!"

"Sorry, I just-"

A foot collided with his rear and, without further ado, he was booted over the edge. The last thing he heard as he fell was the distant sound of a girl's laughter.

* * *

Now where was he? Garret blinked a few times and let his eyes focus. The overhead sun beamed straight into them, and he had to raise a hand to shield himself from its harsh radiance. Above him stood two familiar figures. When his eyes adjusted and he began to sit up, Brynhild crouched beside him, and Lukas offered him his hand.

"Welcome back, Garret. You're not dead yet."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Woohoo! I'm alive. In a phenomenal stroke of luck, the upcoming explosion of assignments, projects, and other unpleasant bullshit got pushed back by a week. That gave me a few free days, so I pushed my writing into overdrive and managed to get another (short) chapter out. You're welcome, Whimsy. :P

Ok, let's get started. In previous chapters, I tried to sort of build this nebulous idea that Garret was not exactly 'ok'. I've mentioned his lingering regrets from killing children, being unable to save Rin or Catherine, etc., before, but I also tried to show that he holds himself to an impossible standard. He tries to be perfect, and when he can't make everything right, feels like he's failed. That all came to a head in this chapter, when he realized he was about to have a miracle spent on him, which he felt he was unworthy to receive. You saw how that turned out. I'm not entirely convinced I did this the best way possible, the mental breakdown seems to have come on rather quickly, but I'm hoping the stuff I set up in previous chapters compensated for that a bit.

I also wanted to show how a fully corrupted incubus might feel. Lore-wise, aside from the brainwashing, the transformation is actually wonderful. It 'increases your physical attributes', reverses aging, cures diseases and injuries, etc. In some parts of the lore, it also grants powers on par with that of a hero, but I think that's bullshit. With the number of incubi running around vs the number of heroes, if they were evenly matched, the war would have ended with a monster victory, long ago. Anyways, given how good it must feel to be in a changed body, it makes sense that the corrupted person would think that The Order was wrong to be preaching it as evil. They wouldn't exactly notice the brainwashing, after all.

One last thing I wanted to do was set up a few concepts for the _ending_ (which is still many chapters away), dealing with the nature of heaven, the war and the Chief God. I think it's important to reference things ahead of time, so big reveals and changes don't come out of nowhere. If people can predict at least the general direction the story is going to take or, failing that, can recognize the build-up after the event gets written, I think I've done my job.

Alright! For real this time, I'm not going to be able to write for a good while, so expect my next update sometime in… uh… maybe April? May? I won't set a proper deadline because my life is anything but consistent, but rest assured I will return. I've managed to stick with it for a year so far, I don't plan on stopping now.

Once again, thank you everyone for your reviews and comments, I always love seeing them.

Until next time, Sayonara!


	13. Day 59 - A Hero

**Day 59 / A Hero**

"Welcome back, Garret. You're not dead yet."

As he heard those words, a flood of sensations came crashing down on him. Residual fragments of thoughts and emotions from his incubus half rushed through his head, and throbbing bruises or fractures from 'his' fight with Brynhild emanated from, well… everywhere. He lay there, dazed for a moment, before ignoring the hand and rolling onto his stomach. When he tried to push himself up, though, his muscles didn't respond. As increasing amounts of pain and discomfort throbbed from his injuries, he became aware of a concerning feeling enveloping his body – one of intense fatigue. His legs felt like he had just run twenty leagues, and his arms were in similar condition. He tried to push again, and managed to lift himself slightly, but his muscles froze when he was no more than an inch off the ground. He grunted and sweat started to form on his brow, but he couldn't go any further. His arms shook, then gave out and he collapsed back to the earth, panting.

"Why… Am I…"

"Easy there, soldier, we'll help you."

"Why can't I move?"

Two pairs of arms grabbed him from behind and gently turned him over, then lifted him to his feet. When he tried to stand on his own, his legs, like his arms, gave out and he began to crumple. He would have ended up right back on the ground if Brynhild hadn't crouched down to catch him. She lifted him up, threw one of his arms over Lukas' waiting shoulder, then ducked under his other. Like this, the three of them began to walk.

"Do you remember what you did?"

It was Brynhild that asked him this question.

"No, but… I saw it."

"Then you know how much you exerted yourself. The demonic energy was what fueled all of that. Now that it's gone, your body has to recover on its own. … And you're wounded."

"Bryn also had to remake the parts of you that were too corrupted. That'll take time to recover from, so for now, we'll take you to a medical cot. You can rest there for today. Hopefully you'll be able to walk by tomorrow."

"I see…"

Rebuilding parts of his body from nothing… Garret had no idea how one would even begin to formulate a spell for that. Most of their healing magic was, at least in principle, based on the idea of accelerating the body's natural regenerative abilities. It might be able to reattach an arm, but if that arm was lost, they couldn't grow a new one. That hadn't stopped the Valkyrie or the Hero, though… The Chief Goddess was right. This really was nothing less than a miracle. Thinking back to that caused him to remember the insane amount of divine energy that have been needed to give him this second chance, and he hung his head. He still felt like he didn't deserve this.

"Thank you, Sir. Ma'am. I'm… really grateful. Bringing me back couldn't have been easy."

"No, but it doesn't matter. Saving a life outweighs that cost, doubly so for a heroic person like yourself."

"I'm not a-" He caught himself, remembering the Chief God's words. "I suppose… I just hope I'm worth it."

Beside him, Brynhild laughed ominously.

"You'll be worth it. You're much more than just a war hero, Garret, you being saved is a statement all its own. Through reviving you, God has shown our soldiers that she stands behind the brave and devoted, no matter their fate. You're not just a mere soldier anymore. At least for now, you are a symbol."

"In a few days, once you've recovered, we're going to hold a celebration, and you are going to speak at it. The people you saved want to know their rescuer, and those who lost friends need hope. You'll provide that to them, understood?"

Hearing Lukas' order almost made Garret's legs give out again. He was barely comfortable around Eric and Aisha, how was he supposed to speak in front of thousands of soldiers?!

"What?! No, I-…" He took a deep breath and a moment to compose himself. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't speak in public. I-I stutter, I trip over my words, I forget things. I'll just embarrass myself and The Order."

No one responded to that, and Lukas looked like he was both annoyed and disappointed by this. As they walked, though, his expression became more thoughtful, and after what felt like ages, he eventually spoke up again.

"That might actually be for the better. What do you think, Bryn?"

"No one under heaven is perfect. He'd remind the soldiers that anyone can be a hero, and that he's an ordinary human just like them."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Wait, but what am I supposed to say!?"

"You've got at least two days to think about that."

Lukas was more helpful in his suggestion.

"Tell them what you did and what you saw. Maybe thank them for their service to the cause and apologize to those 'you' hurt? Definitely mention how the Chief God saved you. Aside from those points, I don't think it matters so long as it's genuine."

It didn't sound like they were going to take 'no' for an answer…

"Can I at least have a priest or someone draft something for me? I really don't think I'll be ab-"

"No."

Lukas pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down, then continued.

"This is technically propaganda to boost morale, but if nothing else, it will be genuine. I'm not going to let you go up there and speak a bunch of honeyed words that someone else told you to say. I want you to motivate the men, not lie to them. That's just not how I run things."

Hearing this, Garret sighed.

"Alright… Yes, sir, I'll do my best."

Lukas nodded in approval.

"Good. I expect nothing less."

* * *

Trapped on the mountain as they were, The Order had no place to properly set up camp, so the medical area was just a collection of cots and bedrolls laid out wherever they would fit. Sandwiched between rocks and squeezed into the sides of mountain paths, it wasn't exactly comfortable, but for lack of other options, they made do. Lukas was kind enough to guide him to one of the better cots, shielded from the sun by a large boulder, though as the leader of the crusade, he couldn't stick around. He left as soon as Garret had made himself comfortable, but Brynhild remained at his side. Once Lukas had left, she drew herself up to her full height and crossed her arms, looking Garret straight in the eye, almost judgingly. Was she angry with him? Suddenly the air pulsed and a dimly shimmering bubble of force expanded from her, growing until it enveloped both of them. When the forcefield passed his ears, the world around him fell silent. Well, silent except for the sound of his breathing and movements on the cot.

"You're surprisingly determined for a doubter."

Her sharp and sudden comment caught Garret off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"A doubter. You don't believe the idea that our crusade is glorious, you don't believe that every death has meaning, and you're having trouble justifying killing monsters if they look harmless."

Though she spoke the truth, when it was put it that bluntly, Garret wanted nothing more than to object, say she was wrong, and claim he was better than that. He was about to protest when she raised her finger to silence him.

"Don't lie to a Valkyrie, Mr. Fax. I can't read your thoughts like our God can, but I can sense their colour."

With his defense shattered before he even uttered a word, Garret deflated and could only muster a simple "Yeah..." as his response.

"What keeps you going?"

"Ma'am?"

"When I saw you at the cathedral, all those days ago, I thought you would be one of the first to fall. Soldiers who don't believe in our cause rarely last long. … But you… you've not only survived, you've become a hero to the crusade. What's driving you?"

Personal philosophy aside, shouldn't she already know that? The Order assigned people partners for a reason.

"My… My partner, Annika. We love each other, and I don't want to see her hurt. She, uh…" He waved his hand, unable to find the words he wanted. "You know what I mean…"

"Yes, I expected that much." Brynhild cocked her head to one side, then continued her interrogation.

"So that's it? If Miss Nyman were killed, the hero would run off, and if she were changed, he'd desert to join her?"

Garret shook his head and answered with an emphatic 'No', but that brought forth even more questions.

"So, what else is there?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. If our symbol of hope runs off because of _something_ , that'll be devastating to morale. Much more so than if you just died. Since you don't agree with crusader philosophy, I need to know what's keeping you here."

"I see…"

"Take your time. If you want a minute to think it over, that's fine, but I need to know what you truly believe."

He nodded and began trying to formulate his thoughts into something he could coherently describe. It was difficult, though, when a large part of his motivation came from people who were… no longer with them. He wanted to steer clear of those thoughts lest they pull his mood even further down from its current melancholy.

"I hope you don't have anywhere to be, ma'am. This might take a while."

In response, the Valkyrie took a seat at the end of his cot and made herself comfortable. It seemed he wasn't going to get out of this.

* * *

Garret was not an eloquent speaker. Though he could argue just fine with Annika, having a stranger – no, not just a stranger, a Valkyrie, a representative of the Chief God, an officer second in command of the crusade – in front of him caused him to constantly doubt what he was about to say. Words stuck in his throat and often-times he stopped mid-sentence, worried that what he was about to say would offend or, more importantly, harm her opinion of him. With a bit of prompting and Brynhild occasionally forcing him to finish his thoughts, though, he eventually loosened up and a productive discussion began to emerge.

Not wanting to mention the horrors of war and his hope of bringing an end to it, Garret confined himself to a much more detached, almost clinical analysis of why he thought monsters were evil. If Brynhild was in contact with the Chief God, she would have already heard about his hopes anyway. Instead, he mostly spoke about the idea of free-will and, more importantly, freedom of thought and how the monsters destroyed that. It was one thing, he said, for a man or woman to side with them of their own volition, but if you hated them and everything they stood for, they would force you to start to think in their way via demonic corruption when they caught you. Additionally, they would change your beliefs and desires so much that you would fight to defend that new life willingly. The fact that there was no- … usually no way of coming back from the corruption just made it worse. Then there was the image of one's self and the feeling of belonging in one's body, or of being a foreigner in it. This one, Garret had a terrible time articulating, but with a bit of discussion with Brynhild, she eventually understood. Men were lucky that their transformations were fairly superficial, but women had their entire body warped. He took legs as an example. He'd had them since he was born, walked on them, worked with them, and was intimately familiar with how they felt and functioned. How would it feel to have them suddenly torn away? It wasn't uncommon to hear stories of veterans who had lost limbs growing bitter about it, but what if that limb had not only been lost, but replaced with something monstrous? Something that no only reminded you every day of what you had lost, but forced you to accept a new life, having something that _should not be there_ attached where something that _should have been_ now was not? In the case of a lamia, the woman would have to re-learn how to walk, er,… slither, and the whole thing seemed extremely degrading and humiliating. If not for the brainwashing suppressing feelings like these, Garret doubted anyone would have been happy with the results. He certainly wouldn't.

Once he had gotten talking, Brynhild mostly listened, occasionally asking questions for clarification, or inquiring about his thoughts on a particular, unique situation that he might not have considered. At the end, she sat there quietly for a moment, thinking over and evaluating his reasoning, before asking one final question.

"It seems this is mostly about control, over your actions and body. What if you'd never had that in the first place? Would you still want to keep fighting?"

Garret's utterly perplexed expression got her to elaborate.

"The Chief Goddess is omniscient, so maybe she can see the future. Maybe that means your actions are preordained, since she knows what you're going to do before you choose to do it. Would you be ok with that and still support her? And consider the prophesied heroes. If they're destined to do something, they don't have complete free will. With a genuine prophecy, no matter what they do, something will push them towards its inevitable conclusion."

Garret had to think about that one… That hadn't crossed his mind.

"I, uh…" Damn, how could he really answer that? He hated the idea of having fate laid out before him, but… "Is that really how the world works? The future is set in stone?"

"No Comment." To stave off more questions, Brynhild raised a finger and continued. "Valkyrie on earth do not discuss the natures of heaven and the cosmos. These ideas came from one of your human philosophers, and I'm using it to demonstrate a point. Its accuracy is not something I will discuss."

He should have asked the Chief God about _that_ while he was still in heaven…

"I see… Well, if the future is set, then there's nothing I can do. Though I don't like it, there's no use worrying. I'll keep doing what I do, regardless."

The problem of destiny was a harder nut to crack.

"As for prophecies, I uh… I don't know… I don't like the idea of anyone being forced into anything, but our Goddess has only done good things for humanity, so… I think I can live with it. Besides, once the war is over and we've killed the demon lord, there'll be no need for prophecies or heroes, right? It's a temporary sacrifice to win."

A very, _very_ dark look flashed across Brynhild's face, but disappeared so quickly, Garret briefly wondered if he had seen anything at all. She nodded with her typical stern look, giving her approval to his answer, before standing up.

"Then you'll be fine. That's not the unusual philosophy I'd expect a soldier to have, but it should be ok for now."

Business dealt with, her expression softened, and she gave a slight smile, then touched Garret on the arm.

"You did well in the mountain. The crusade is blessed to have you."

After he thanked her, she wished him a speedy recovery and began to leave. Before she could make more than two steps, though, Garret was reminded of something and interrupted her departure.

"Sorry, uh, ma'am. Before you go, may I ask a favour?"

"You may."

"When I rescued those soldiers, there was a man named Nathan White. He didn't make it out, but he died shouting for someone named 'Sarah'. Do you know who that is? If she's still alive, I'd like to tell her."

Brynhild looked thoughtful, then shook her head.

"I don't know either of them, but I'll ask the officers for you."

"Thank you."

She nodded, then bid him farewell for a second time and stepped out of the bubble of silence, letting it slowly dissipate on its own. Garret shuffled back and forth on the cot, trying to get comfortable and settle in for a nap. Either Brynhild or Lukas would have told Annika about his 'safe' return, and he expected she'd arrive soon. In preparation for that encounter, he wanted to get at least a little rest.

* * *

The reunion with his partner was a tearful one. Annika, obviously, had been worried sick when he was dragged away and didn't return, and he… seeing her again after being convinced he would die in that mountain (and actually doing so), brought forth a surge of emotion, leaving him on the brink of tears as well. As the two hugged each other tightly, he contemplated their good fortune. How many times had this been, now? Two? Three? No, they'd almost lost each other four separate times, marking them as one of the luckiest (or _unluckiest_ ) sets of partners in The Order. They should be getting used to this by now, he dryly remarked. Humor aside, it was true that they had been through this before, and all had already been said and done. Instead of reassuring each other like they might have earlier, they just clung together tightly, allowing their actions to convey more than words ever could.

Eventually, though, they had to talk. Annika plied him with all sorts of questions about what happened in the mountain, and Garret answered them to the best of his abilities. Hearing about his encounters with Ilona were obviously not particularly pleasant for her, but if she was jealous, she didn't show it. Maybe it was because her 'competition' was already dead. Not for the first time, Garret was thankful her rational demeanor.

"Hearin' that hurts, but I can't blame you for what they did... It's all over now, though, right? You aren't gonna leave me for some cute monster girl, are ya?"

She cracked a grin during the last part, fully knowing how he'd answer, much to Garret's relief. It was good that she wasn't too upset.

"Of course not. I love you, Annika. So long as I have you, I can fight forever."

She squeezed his hand affectionately.

"Glad to hear it, Garret."

Their conversation was suddenly cut short by a brilliant flash of light, and, seconds later, a windstorm that pelted them with dust, dirt, and small rocks. Despite being partially shielded by a boulder, they still had to turn away from the blast and cover their faces.

Bedridden, Garret could only utter a shocked "What was that?!", leaving Annika to dust herself off and peer around the boulder, seeking the source of the light. When she spotted it, she froze, utterly shocked by what she saw.

"Garret… Come look."

Stunned as she was, it took a moment for her to remember his situation, but when she did, she rushed back and helped him to his feet, supporting him as the two walked into the open. When he saw what had happened, his jaw likewise dropped. The mountain with the arachne colony had been cleaved in two. Some white wisps of magic gently spiraled from the chasm into the air, and the ground around the mountain was littered with debris from the explosion. The walls on the sides of the split stood strong for a minute, but trembled and gradually began to collapse with great rockslides, burying anything that had survived the initial cataclysm.

"What the hell… How did that happen?"

"Lukas said we were gonna to destroy the mountain, but… I thought he was exaggerating."

Sure enough, as the dust clouds settled, he spotted two shining figures flying above the destruction – one with wings, and one without.

"So this is the true power of a hero…"

Lukas could bring back the dead, and now he'd just leveled a mountain with the help of Brynhild… Suddenly all those impossible stories Garret had heard about their heroes didn't seems so unlikely. If they had this power on their side, how could they possibly lose?

* * *

With the threat eliminated, The Order slowly made its way down from the mountain and into the valley to set up camp. Most of the soldiers had barely gotten a proper night's rest, since they were unable to pitch tents for everyone and needed to maintain hyper-vigilance during the night – attacks could come at any time, and on that mountain, from anywhere. The valley, though, allowed them to set up a proper perimeter and organize a usable camp, so the order was given to spend a day there to rest. Being wounded, Annika wasn't on guard duty, so she had time to erect their tent. Unfortunately, Garret being unable to stand meant she had to do it all by herself – a sacrifice he was sure to thank her for when she helped him limp to his bedroll.

Once he had gotten comfortable, the two made small-talk and chatted for a big longer, until Annika was called away to perform some other duty, leaving Garret alone with his thoughts. Though he tried to relax, anxiety about his upcoming 'performance' kept surfacing, making that nearly impossible… What was he supposed to say?! An introduction would be a good start, telling them who he was, what he did and where he came from, but after that… Fuck. He had Lukas' words to guide him, but on their own, they gave him, maybe, three sentences. He racked his brain, trying to think of ways to stitch ideas together into a somewhat coherent speech, but stress and fatigue were making it difficult to think. Even with his prior nap, he was still exhausted. He shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to relax again. Aisha. She was a spellsinger, she'd probably be able to help him. After dinner, he'd ask her and Eric for help, so for now, he needed to get some rest – make sure he would actually have enough energy to pay attention. Finding a possible way forward released at least a little tension, allowing him to settle down and, eventually, fall into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Garret stood behind a stone pulpit, slowly giving his speech to the crowd that filled the cave. Though he managed to say a few nice words, he couldn't stop himself from making numerous mistakes, sometimes with disastrous consequences for his audience's attitude towards him. At some point, the booing started, and when it reached its crescendo, the arachnae and other monsters began throwing their spears like one would rotten fruit. He hung his head, mortified, and tried to finish mumbling his speech, as the spears bounced harmlessly off him, but a rod tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned to look, he saw Brynhild shaking her head, then gesturing with a leg from her spider-half that he should leave the stage. Nearly in tears, he took her advice and stepped down, before running into a side tunnel, allowing a different arachnae to take his place and begin their own speech. When he stopped and collapsed against a wall, he heard the sound of chitin-on-stone behind him.

"Garret!"

It was Ilona. Seeing him breaking down after his failed attempt at a speech, she grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, forcefully pulling him into a tight hug.

"Garret, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have put you up to that, I…"

Her voice trailed off as he sobbed into her chest. She held him tight and tried to be there for him, like he had been for her when he rescued her from her mistress.

"Wh-What did I do wrong? What could I have said?"

Now it was Garret's turn to be fragile and hers to be strong. She cooed reassuring words into his ear, well, as best as she knew how, and made promises that they could sneak away somewhere quiet once all this was over. Eventually she just settled into a rhythm of repeating "Its going to be ok, Garret. I love you." over and over, as he gradually calmed down and composed himself. When he finally felt like he could speak without sobbing, he managed a reply.

"Thank you… I… I love you, Ilona."

Immediately, her voice turned icy.

"No you don't, Garret. If you did, you wouldn't have killed me."

"What?!"

He looked up and, for the first time, realized that half of her face had been blown off and burnt to the bone. The scaring ran down her neck and shoulder, to the side of her breast and along her arm, giving the girl a horrifyingly mutilated appearance. The burnt face smiled wickedly, and she forcibly pulled him up off the ground for a kiss, staring into his eyes.

"Why, Garret?"

* * *

Garret awoke from the nightmare with a start. He shuddered as a wave of conflicting emotions crashed over him, then curled into a ball under the covers, wiping the tears from his eyes as he did.

"Sh-Shut up, Ilona!"

He clenched a fist and punched himself in the leg, looking for something, _anything_ , to get these feelings out of his head.

"Shut up! Stop it. Don't ask me why."

He quietly sobbed into his pillow, trying to avoid others hearing him while he struggled to bring his emotions back under control.

"You're a monster! It had to be done. I have Annika. You were in my way! You forced me!"

A voice in the back of his head mocked him for the excuses he was giving. Was that some remnant of their bond that had formed during the escape, or just a fragment of his guilty conscience? Either way, it was deeply unwelcome.

"Stop it! Leave me alone! I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't WANT to kill you! If you weren't a monster, if I didn't have Annika, if we weren't at war, maybe it wouldn't have ended like this,… it was the only way!"

The worst part about these feelings was that in his heart, he got the impression that Ilona had actually been a good person. She didn't try to torture him like the other arachnae would have, she didn't try to force herself on him, and she seemed genuinely concerned about his wellbeing. Knowing her painful history made him feel even worse about what he had done to the girl, necessary or not. He shook his head as another shudder ran through him and tears threatened to reappear. These feelings weren't going away. He needed to go for a walk or something, to get his mind off things. Unfortunately, he still didn't have the strength to do that and, when he tried to force it anyway, just ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor with barely enough energy to pull himself back into the cot. Stuck here with his thoughts, he curled back up and wiped away a fresh set of tears.

"F-Fuck…"

* * *

By the time Annika returned a few hours later, the worst of his feelings had subsided. While his mood was still extremely depressed, at least he wasn't openly sobbing. The food she brought (for it wasn't like he could make it to the mess tents) helped, though, and he sat up to slowly work away at a bowl of stew.

"Are ya ok, Garret?"

He barely looked up from his food.

"No, I-" He sighed. "Just had a nightmare. I'll be fine."

Much like their tearful reunions, Garret was all-too-aware that they'd had this exchange numerous times before – something Annika called him on.

"You've been sayin' that a lot, Garret. If it were true, ya wouldn't be like this. Do you want to talk about it?"

Talk about _what_? 'Sorry, Annika, I'm just pining over the woman I cheated with and wish I hadn't had to kill her.'? Yeah, that'd go over real well… He took another bite of food and focused on the bowl. After a minute, Annika let out her own exasperated sigh.

"Garret, I'm _trying_ to help. Can you at least say something?"

He finished slurping down the last of his food, then tossed aside the empty bowl.

"There's nothing to talk about, Annika, it's the same as before… I'm just frustrated. Killing monsters on the battlefield is fine, but when you're sneaking around, they look, and act, almost human… You're lucky. At least for you, an adult monster is always your enemy."

When he referenced the transformative relationship between monsters and women, Annika shrugged.

"I don't like killing the ones who run, but… yeah… Garret, if this is too mu-"

"No!"

He knew what was coming and immediately cut her off.

"No… I'm doing the right thing; this has to be done. …It just doesn't feel like it sometimes."

He quietly stared at the ground for a moment, before coming to his conclusion.

"I'll be fine. I've made it this far; I can keep going, just…"

Unable to stand on his own, Garret was forced to open his arms and voice his request.

"Can I hug you, Annika?"

His partner smiled when he asked that.

"Of course you can."

* * *

After dinner, Garret's mood was lifted when someone rapped on their tent pole and two familiar faces poked their heads through the flap.

"Heeey, Garret! How're you feeling? Oh, and hi, Annika."

"Good Evening.~"

Eric and Aisha plopped themselves down on the feet of the bedrolls and made themselves comfortable.

"Annika told us you were one of the captured. We were quite worried until we heard about the escape."

"Yeah, not cool, man. After all the effort I spent teaching you to fence, you can't disappear until you put it to use at least once!"

Eric chuckled at his own teasing, and his friend's concern brought a smile to Garret's face. At least he had them.

"Heh, I'm fine, just tired. Purification took a lot of energy out of me… but hey, I'm not sure I should be trying that, Eric. Your teaching curriculum seems quite lacking."

"Oh, how so?"

"Well you left out the parts about dealing with spear wielding monsters twice as tall and thrice as strong as a man!"

More chucking came as the teasing was reversed, and Eric put a hand on his chin, mockingly pretending to be deep in thought.

"Hmm, well then I'll correct that right now. Sword on spear, with no shield and a strength and reach disadvantage? The technique you use for that is to run like a little bitch!"

Oh, he already knew that one!

"Ah, well don't worry, then. I've been using that a lot, lately."

"Hmmm… Well I guess you're off the hook _for now._ Seriously, though, I'm sorry we couldn't do anything. The officers said they weren't going to send anyone in to rescue people, and I don't think we'd have made it on our own."

Garret gave a slight smile and waved away his concern. With a nest of that size, it made sense they'd be wary of sending in more troops.

"There was nothing you could have done. Don't worry, its fine."

"How about you, Annika? How are your wounds feeling?"

"Aaah, they're fine, Aisha. A priest healed the worst of it, I should be back and at 'em in a day or two."

"Coincidentally the same time it'll take me to recover. It's almost like you planned this."

He poked her in the shoulder, and she cast him a sideways glance with a slight grin.

"Garret, I love you, but not enough to take a mace to the head."

Remembering how she had taken a greater succubus' dive-bombing for him; Garret could only snort. She'd accepted much worse than that before.

"Of course not."

"So how are things for you two? Ya see anything interesting on patrol?"

Eric shook his head.

"No, but… Our hero's attack… whew… the shockwave nearly knocked me over. I can't believe he's got that much power."

"I think there will be more than one new songs written about him."

The group chatted about the state of the crusade, the majesty of their Valkyrie and the strength of their hero for easily a handful of hours, but eventually, the unpleasant feeling of 'I should be working…' began to creep up on Garret. Before everyone got too tired, he needed to ask a certain spellsinger for help.

"Aisha, do you know anything about speechwriting?"

"Of course! In the bard's college, we gained the knowledge, to write in any style, with all of our guile!"

The return of her rhymes indicated a cheerful mood, but worried Garret none-the-less. There was no way he was going to be able to speak in limerick form.

"I need to write one. Mr. Strom said we'd be having a celebration in a few days and wanted me to speak at it."

Annika already knew the reason for this, but hearing that their hero had singled Garret out intrigued Eric and Aisha. Almost immediately, they began to ply him with questions. Did something happen? Was he representing the magic college or some sorcerer's organization? Was this about the escape miracle that happened this morning? At this last inquiry, he pointed at Eric gesturing that he was correct.

"That's the one."

"Ah, makes sense… So what's the topic, then? Are you thanking your mysterious rescuer?"

"You know, Eric, the rumor has it a mage broke everyone out. Maybe you're talking to him right now.~"

Aisha playfully elbowed him in the side and in return got her hair ruffled.

"This sorry excuse of a sorcerer? Naaaaah, there's just no way! He'd have passed out after the opening volley."

Eric winked then apologized.

"I'm just teasing, Garret."

He just smiled and nodded, taking the jest in stride, then replying with a dead serious tone.

"Of course. … But that was what happened, I rescued a few dozen soldiers and have to give a speech about it."

Eric smirked, expecting that to be a joke, but his expression slowly changed to a more incredulous one as Garret insisted. When Annika backed him up, he finally accepted his recounting of the events, clearly taken aback.

"Shit, you're serious… Well, uh… Fuck, man, good job. That's actually really,… _really_ impressive."

Garret shrugged and thanked him for his praise. Almost immediately, though, he was bombarded by questions from Aisha who sensed a potential new story. How did he get out, what happened in there, what were the monsters like, how were their caves made, and how did he keep everyone safe? Garret tried to answer her flurry of questions as quickly as he could, but with every answer, three more queries were returned, resulting in an almost unending flood of babbling. At some point, she retrieved a journal and charcoal stick to take notes, making Garret worry about the prospects of getting any help at all with his speech tonight. Unpleasantly, those worries turned out to be well-founded.

* * *

 **Day 61**

For the next two days, the crusade was back to fighting. His spirits having been lifted from the visit with his friends, Garret only had a couple mild nightmares those evenings, and managed to get a decent amount of rest. That left him strong enough to help pack up their camp in the mornings and march with the soldiers in at the back of the column, though he still didn't have the energy to carry his gear. That had to get loaded onto one of the wagons carrying the other wounded through the less-treacherous valley paths. Fortunately for him and The Order, the terrain they would cover from here on out was easier than before, making for much more pleasant marching and allowing for an additional two hundred soldiers to reinforce the new vanguard that blazed their trail. With almost thrice the number of soldiers, and less narrow paths to fight on, ambushes like the arachnae's would hopefully be repulsed before too much damage could be done.

By the end of the first day, Garret was too exhausted to do much of anything, and only barely managed to help set up their tent before passing out on a bedroll. The second day went much better, though. More rest and increasingly easy terrain meant he was not nearly as fatigued, so he could focus on writing his speech… or at least trying to write it. Fortunately, that night, Aisha showed up with the intention to help, not just interrogate him.

"Good Evening, Garret~. Hello, Annika~"

With a sung greeting and rap on the tent pole, she let herself in and plopped down beside Garret.

"Thank you _soooo_ much for letting me interview you, Garret. It gave me much to write about. You might even hear a new song or two next time we get marching.~"

"I don't think 'interview' is the correct word for what that was…"

"Do ya write a lot, Aisha? I thought spellsingers only performed songs."

The girl nodded happily, the feather in her cap bobbing as she did.

"Yes! Sometimes its for performance, a few 'singers recite dramatic epics instead of songs for their magic, but I do it for the fun. And posterity. Someone needs to catalogue the trials and triumphs of The Order's soldiers, so it falls to us to record them. What about you two? Do either of you enjoy writing?"

They both shook their heads. Garret's excuse was not particularly enjoying academic pursuits, and Annika's, that she spent far more time staring at a blank page trying to figure out what to write than actually doing the writing itself. Aisha looked disappointed when she heard this.

"But there's so much joy to be found in penning works! You've got your characters to balance, plots to organize, flowery language to describe scenes,… when everything fits together nicely and you get present it and see your audience enraptured with your tale... Aaahhh, it's such a nice feeling."

She clutched her journal to her chest and giggled happily.

"Right, well, I suppose that's why you wanted my help."

Garret nodded and defeatedly sighed.

"I don't even know where to begin…"

She clasped her hands, grinning widely.

"Then we shall all work on it together!"

* * *

 **Day 63**

The crusade continued to cut its bloody path through the mountains, slaughtering every monster that lay in its way. Despite Lukas' words, there had been no sign of stopping for the promised celebration any time soon, though Garret had noticed many more scouts being sent out than usual. Maybe he was expecting something? That was worrisome, but at least it meant he had more time to work on his speech. A few more days of this, and maybe he'd have something almost workable.

* * *

 **Day 64**

There was no real combat the next day. Any villages they found were empty, and only a handful of solitary monsters needed to be put down – something the couple soldiers could handle on their own. The terrain kept getting easier, and their ascents, less high and steep. It seemed like they would be coming to the end of the mountain range soon, a conclusion supported by a dim, purple glow on the horizon, and distant sight of vibrant forests and plains.

* * *

 **Day 66**

Two days later, they finally broke free of the mountains. From their position atop a plateau on the side of the final hill, a verdant paradise stretched out beyond them, as far as the eye could see. If not for the unnaturally vibrant colours and slight purple miasma wafting through the air above the forests and fields, it would have looked like heaven on earth. Unfortunately, those signs indicated it was the exact opposite – an unrelenting spread of demonic corruption.

"Soldiers of The Order, hear my words now!"

Before they could march any further, Lukas called them to a halt and began to speak, his voice booming with supernatural strength to reach everyone in the column.

"We have reached the end of the human world and stand on the precipice of the demon realm! By coming this far, we have ensured the safety of Naton and her surroundings for years! Humans will reclaim the villages we purged and once again our nation will stretch across the land. What we have accomplished until now is worthy of praise, but we are not done yet. We will make camp here and begin preparations for the second stage of the crusade. We will plunge deep into the demon realm, shatter their armies, and scatter their people! We will reclaim that which has been corrupted and ensure the safety of our nation, not just for a handful of years, but for generations! Indeed, our success here may shift the tide of the entire war, allowing for following attacks to slay the demon lord and put an end to this conflict once and for all!"

Hearing that, a cheer rose up from the ranks of the soldiers. Lukas smiled and waited for them to quiet back down, before raising a finger and continuing.

"Three days. In three days, we will begin our attack in earnest. Two of these will be used for preparation, wards and blessings, but not tonight! Tonight, we celebrate our accomplishments and the miracles the Chief God has granted us! I thank each and every one of you for your service to The Order. May God bless you all!"

Another cheer roared fourth from the crusade as Lukas dismissed them, then turned into chaos as people began scrambling about to set up camp as quickly as possible. Rangers were dispatched to hunt additional game, cook tents were set up, and just outside the camp, Garret spotted a group of wizards pooling their energy to open a portal. Once it stabilized, a man stepped through and, when he returned, several barrels of beer and other supplies were pushed out of it, probably teleported from Naton. Immediately afterwards, the dozen-or-so wizards closed it and hunched over, exhausted from the energy expenditure. A portal like that was usually only used for emergencies, but it seemed like they had quite the feast planned and that somehow justified its use. Out of nowhere, Brynhild suddenly materialized before him.

"You'll be speaking tonight. Are you ready?"

Garret exhaled a long breath and half-shrugged.

"No… but I've got a script, I can at least say something."

She nodded, pleased.

"Yes, I saw your friends helping with that a day ago. That was smart. Friends helping friends is genuine, much different from drafted propaganda."

He shrugged again.

"Mmm… yeah, I just hope it's ok. … Is this still necessary? It's been a week, and everyone is in high spirits."

"Yes." Came the immediate reply.

"Your speech will help boost moral even higher and give closure to those you saved. Besides, Garret, you're a hero. You deserve some recognition for what you did."

"… I think I could live without that."

The Valkyrie crossed her arm, mildly annoyed.

"Well you don't have a choice in the matter. You'd best prepare yourself."

"… Yes, Ma'am. I'll do my best."

Satisfied, she nodded.

"Good. Thank you, Garret, I'll let you get back to work."

With that, she disappeared in a burst of energy, leaving him alone.

* * *

"Uuuuuugh… I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do thiiiiiis…"

"Come on, Garret, man up. You fight monsters every day, speaking should be nothing for you."

"Yeah, but I don't have to impress them, I just have to kill them! And I'm trained for that! I-I-I'm not trained for this!"

Pacing back and forth, as the night drew closer, Garret was on the verge of a panic attack. Speeches would happen before the feast began in earnest, and though Lukas and Brynhild were up first, he still was not at all happy about this. His partner and friends had gathered around, trying to calm him down, but only with limited effectiveness.

"Well then,… I don't know, imagine the audience is naked or something."

"But what if they're all hot?!"

That response garnered a few laughs, but Eric's suggestions were not especially helpful.

"I'll try to stand in the middle of the crowd. Just look at me and pretend there's no one else. 'sides, my opinion is the only one that matters!"

Annika's was a bit better, but not by much. It was nice that she cared, but that didn't help his nerves! Once again, Aisha came to the rescue.

"Would you like me to sing, Garret? I can work a song of bravery, just for you.~"

He immediately grabbed her by the shoulders, begging frantically.

"Yes! Please!"

"Then once it gets closer to the time, I will. For now, just try to calm down. You're going to be fine."

He took a deep breath and resumed his pacing. That was easier said than done.

"Yeah… Thanks, everyone…"

* * *

Later in the evening they cleared an area for the speeches, and a small rock outcropping was designated to be a makeshift pulpit. The sky was getting darker, and rangers began to return with their catches for the feast. Around the camp, watch fires had been lit, and torches illuminated the rows of tents and makeshift tables. As their duties were completed, soldiers began to slowly filter out of the camp towards the meeting place, gathering around the stone. Garret, himself, stood at the back of the crowd, flipping through the pages of notes Aisha had given to him, reviewing them, practicing, and trying not to panic. As the crowd's numbers continued to swell, with no sign of his friends, Garret began to worry he had been forgotten. Eventually, though, he spotted a tell-tale plume-feather bouncing towards him, heralding Aisha's arrival, and after few minutes, true to her word, she tugged at his sleeve.

"Are you ready, Garret?"

He shuddered.

"Ha… No."

"Aww, chin up. You'll do fine! Here, I'll sing for you, but first, drink this!"

She shoved a mug full of beer towards him, from which Garret gratefully took a few swigs. She must have filled it from the feast supplies, unnoticed. After he'd handed it back and nodded his thanks, she began a quiet, wordless melody, barely audible to anyone who wasn't within her immediate vicinity. As promised, Garret felt his anxiety begin to melt away, though that was likely in part thanks to the alcohol. She kept this up, even as Lukas and Brynhild arrived to begin their speech, only pausing whenever she needed to wet her throat. Eventually, though, the fated hour came, and he could no longer hide in the rear.

"… But before we begin our feast, the events from one week ago must be addressed. As most of you know, many of our number were rescued from the clutches of the arachnae. What you may not be aware of is that the rescue was performed by a single man. No, not a hero or priest, but one of your number – an ordinary soldier who, through sheer devotion and loyalty, fought off their charms and saved our people from destruction. Everyone, if you would please make a path, I present to you, Garret Fax. A heroic sorcerer of The Order."

A ray of light shone from Brynhild, illuminating Garret, and the soldiers between him and the 'pulpit' parted to let him walk. He made one last gesture of thanks towards Aisha then, one shaky step after another, slowly made his way forward and took his place atop the rock. Even with the combination of liquid and magical courage helping him, his unease still flared as he looked over the faces standing before him. What was he doing here? He couldn't do this! Somewhere in the center of the crowd, he spotted a familiar red-haired woman. Focusing on Annika, who flashed him a 'thumbs up', he took a deep breath, glanced down at his notes, and began what felt like the hardest challenge of his life.

* * *

As thunderous applause poured forth from the crowd, Garret bowed and stepped down from the rock, letting Lukas take his place and make a few final words. At some point, the magic had worn off and his speaking faltered. With a white-knuckled grip on his notes, and the inability to stop halfway through a sentence, though, he had managed to forge onward and delivered a halting and awkwardly worded, but complete speech.

"Excellent work, Garret."

Brynhild spoke from beside him as she personally escorted him back to his friends. He couldn't accept that praise though, especially knowing all the mistakes he'd made.

"That was terrible, Ma'am. Anyone could tell."

She cracked a knowing smile and, to his surprise, agreed.

"It wasn't great. But again, being 'good' was not the point, being genuine was. You succeeded fully in that measure and covered the points we wanted. I think congratulations are still in order."

He just looked at the ground and kept walking.

"Thank you, Ma'am. I guess."

"Garret!"

As they approached, Aisha shouted a greeting and rushed to meet him, with Annika and Eric in tow. Seeing this, Brynhild wished him a nice evening and took her leave.

"Wonderfully done. See, I told you you'd be fine!"

"Thanks again for your help, Aisha. I couldn't have done it without you, but come on, that was awful."

"Hmm…" She furrowed her brow, as if thinking, before answering in her typically cheerful voice. "Yes, but it was better than I expected, so that's alright!"

"Gee, thanks!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. The last thing he expected was a backhanded compliment coming from _Aisha_ of all people.

"Well _I_ liked it."

Annika clapped him on the shoulder.

"Ya did your best, that's all you can do, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

Eric echoed a similar sentiment, though he added that they should move quickly to secure a table before all were taken – something everyone agreed with. With that, the four of them hustled through the crowd to complete their mission.

* * *

"That's why I like you, Garret! You try things!"

"Everyone tries things, Annika."

Somehow the discussion had made its way onto the topic of 'love' and, much to his embarrassment, Annika was in the process of fawning over him. Maybe it was their recent brushes with death, or maybe it was just the alcohol, but it seemed like she was being clingier than usual.

"But not as much as you. Before I ended up with ya, I had to deal with so many men who just refused to do anything outside their comfort zone. Alex didn't like hiking, Rick refused to travel, and Mark _hated_ hand-to-hand. Actually, just about every mage or archer hated wrestling. You're the only one who volunteered to train with me! And none of those guys would have even tried to do something like give a speech."

Well he didn't really have a choice, but still.

"I didn't realize you had so many other partners, Annika…"

"I was a soldier for two years before ya, dontchyaknow?"

"Yeah, but what happened to them?"

"Oh, they were all lost to unfortunate accidents, don't worry about it.~"

"… Um."

"I'm kidding, I'm _kidding!_ Don't worry, I got to switch partners a lot in my first year. My sergeants didn't mind the extra paperwork so long as I eventually found someone who I liked. _"_

She squeezed him affectionately.

"And that turned out to be you!"

He cracked a wry grin, then took another swig of his drink.

"Heh. Well I'm glad 'putting in an effort' was all it took to get you."

"Hey, I have standards! You had to be cute too."

Their celebration was interrupted when someone tapped Garret on his arm.

"Um… Excuse me?"

The source of the touch was a very shy looking young woman, who deliberately avoided making eye contact when he turned around. Standing beside her was an equally shy looking man.

"W-We… You saved us back in that mountain. T-Thank you so much!"

Their sudden appearance gave Garret pause and he struggled to figure out what to say. Eventually he settled on a simple 'you're welcome', and, now that they'd been purified, inquiring about their health. They apparently had ended up in a similar boat to Garret, needing a few days to recover, but were otherwise fine. With that, though, they descended into an awkward silence with neither of them knowing what to say. Eventually the woman and her partner excused themselves.

"… Fuck. Eric, want to switch places? I don't know how to deal with this."

The man's eyes sparkled as he shook his head.

"Nope! You're gonna be famous whether you like it or not."

He gulped down more alcohol, then leaned on the table with a serious expression on his face.

"Come on, Garret, at least try to enjoy it. You're one of the reasons we're celebrating. You should be happy to have people cheering what you did."

What he did? An arachne's face flashed through his memory. Ilona… The flashback was interrupted when someone shouted and an armoured soldier slapped him on the back.

"Fax!"

The man and his compatriots shoved a cluster of beer-filled mugs in front of him.

"You're my savior, man. I thought I was gone, but you pulled me out! Here, you can have our drinks. Consider this the thanks of the Stillbrook spearmen."

Don't think about that, Garret, Evan is right. You should be enjoying this, for their sake as much as yours. With no clue how to handle social situations on his own, though, he looked to his friend for inspiration. How would he act in a situation like this?

Forcing a grin, Garret grabbed two of the mugs, pressed one into the hand of the man he had rescued, then held his own up.

"I did what I could. Cheers!"

The man's face lit up at this gesture, and the two clinked their glasses, then chugged them in unison. When they slammed the empty mugs down, a cheer went up from both Garret's and the soldier's friends.

"You're a good man, Fax."

After a few more congratulatory words from him and his friends, the soldiers left, each patting him on the shoulder as they did. Eric was right. If he just accepted it, if he didn't think about what had happened, it felt… nice. Being well-liked was a wonderful feeling.

"That's the spirit. But, uh… Don't tell me you're going to try to drink all of those yourself."

Garret smile slightly, then passed a drink to each of his friends. He was _not_ about to get black-out drunk while on a crusade.

"Of course not."

… Though certain resurfacing memories made that a tempting proposition.

* * *

That was how the night went. The group drank, made merry, and were constantly interrupted by soldiers, who had been, or had a friend that had been saved by Garret. Such attention meant that, at least for them, there was no shortage of food or alcohol that evening. On the other hand, the constant socialization left Garret completely drained. It didn't help that some of the visitors were… unorthodox in their greetings. In particular, one extremely muscular man and his posse confronted Garret, sizing him up and threatening that there would be hell to pay if he came close to the man's partner again. She had apparently been among the number that Garret rescued. Then he grabbed Garret by the collar and lifted him out of his chair, off the ground. That caused weapons to be drawn, and Annika to start shouting for the man to release him, but before he did, he pulled Garret close and whispered a gruff 'thanks' in his ear. As the men jeered and sauntered away, Garret was left bewildered at the variety of characters employed by The Order. Were they really so proud they couldn't say 'thanks' like a normal person? Or, even better, left him alone? He tried to focus on the whispered gratitude. At least it seemed like the man was trying to save face, rather than make a genuine threat.

When it came time to head back to their tents and rest for the evening, a certain Valkyrie stopped Garret and Annika half-way.

"Good evening. Did you two enjoy the feast?"

They nodded, Annika happily, but Garret, with a bit more caution. He doubted Brynhild was here just to socialize.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. I won't keep you long, but Garret, I'd like to talk with you in private for a moment."

He cast a sideways glance at Annika, who nodded her approval.

"Uh, sure. I'll meet you at the tent, Annika."

After his partner had walked away, Brynhild got to the matter at hand.

"It seems the 'Sarah' you asked me about was Nathan White's late partner. She was killed nearly two months ago in an assault on a village."

Made sense… that lined up with what he had been told.

"I see… I wonder why he was calling for her, then."

"He was probably accepting his death and looking forward to reuniting with her. I'm told they were very close."

Wait, but Nathan had said they hated each other, and was perfectly comfortable making flippant remarks about her dying. The contrast in descriptions lead to him replying with a very confused "What?"

"I spoke with one of the sergeants from Northreach. Apparently the two were nearly inseparable and got along extremely well. I'm surprised he kept the will to fight after she was gone."

She sensed his confusion and paused.

"… Garret? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head and, despite her previous warnings, made the mistake of lying to a Valkyrie.

"No, nothing. Thank you."

Fortunately, she didn't seem to care. She stared at him for a moment, as if examining him, but eventually let the topic be.

"Very well. Have a nice evening, Mr. Fax."

"You as well, Ma'am."

She turned and strode away, disappearing into the darkness between tents, and leaving Garret alone with his thoughts. Nathan had died screaming his partner's name – a partner he claimed to hate, but supposedly was also on exceptionally good terms with. He thought back to his time in that village, remembering the man's extreme prejudice against the mamono and somewhat depressed demeanor when he was invited for drinks the following nights. Given the situation with his partner, he might have been dismissed from the crusade, or at least from active combat duty, if his superiors thought he was unsuitable. If he lied, though, anyone unfamiliar with his relationship probably wouldn't have given his claims a second thought, sending him right back into the action. As he wandered back to his tent, Garret tried to think of reasons why anyone would want this. The single conclusion he tumbled to put a damper on his spirits, contrasting starkly with the triumphant celebrations he just partook in.

"Nathan… Is that why you followed me back into the mountain? Were you just living for revenge this whole time?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm alive. Yeah. Woo. * _flop_ *

Once again, I apologize about the long wait, but hopefully this chapter's length makes up for that a bit. As for the reasons why, well, over the past few months, I've written an hour-long speech, several academic reports, and my own scientific paper, which I've submitted for review at an upcoming conference. All this stuff is great for my career, but needless to say, after doing weeks upon weeks of technical writing, the last thing I wanted to do in my free time was boot up 'Word'. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ You'd think the pandemic would mean I'd have more time for writing, but since computer scientists can work wherever they have wifi, if anything, I've been busier than ever. (Stay safe everyone, by the way. _**I**_ will survive, but I can't have my followers and reviewers dying on me :P)

I'd love to say something like 'that's all over now, so I can return to a normal schedule', but nope! My thesis work has just kicked into overdrive, and while I'm setting aside Saturdays for writing, that means updates are still going to be super slow until sometime between September and Christmas. Sorry.

Ok! I'm done whining about my schedule, let's talk about this chapter.

I _finally_ managed to wrap up Nathan's sub-plot. The impact on a person when they lose someone they're exceptionally close to is something I wanted to touch on in this story. I sort of did this with Catherine, but she wasn't a good enough friend with Garret yet to really push that idea. Sure, it turned out to be a paint-by-numbers revenge plot of 'my beloved was killed, so I'm going to take you all down with me!', but I didn't think that was too much of a problem since it's a side-story, and you rarely see this plot show up in MGE fiction. As with Ilona's tragic (and also basic) story of 'abused, pitiful person is rescued then betrayed', or the numerous other one/two chapter incidents, I'm trying to use these little sub-plots to create a sort of meta-narrative as to how the war is affecting Garret and those caught up in it. Of course, I'm also trying to use them to set up scenes I have planned for later. As to whether or not I'm doing a good job of that, well that's up to you! Please let me know what you think.

On the topic of heroes, with the way the MGE is written, power levels are all over the place. I've mentioned before that I boosted humans to be able to actually fight one-on-one with some monsters, but that means I have to go even further for divine heroes. They are the overpowered superhumans in this setting, and I think showing Lukas' ability to revive the dead and destroy entire mountains clearly demonstrates this. Of course, making the monsters have no answer to this creates its own problems, but aaaaaaahh that's something I'll deal with later~.

In my original draft of this chapter, Aisha played a much smaller role, as I had tried to focus on writing Brynhild's character and, to a lesser extent, Lukas'. I realized she hadn't been given much screen time, though, so I decided to expand her parts a bit. Garret may be the hero, but the supporting cast needs some time in the limelight as well. This is my first proper fic, so I'm still working on spreading the characterization around, but hopefully this makes up a little for her being neglected.

Uuuuuh… What else… I can talk about the double (triple?) meaning in the chapter name, about the intricacies of the magic system, or write more on how I'm making Garret feel _**SO SAD**_ … Or I can just call it here, which I think I'm going to do. None of those are particularly interesting or useful, and this chapter is getting too long as it is (25 pages, fuuuuck). Thats thing about long chapters... they make editing a pain in the ASS.

Alright! You know the drill, once again, thank you everyone for your support, reviews, messages, etc. I always love receiving them. Never thought I'd be closing on 50 follows when I started this… Originally, I had been hoping for '20'. Good luck everyone, don't die, and…

Until next time, Sayonara!


	14. Day 67 - When in Rome

**Day 67 / When in Rome**

The rank-and-file soldiers of The Order had very little to do the next morning. Ranger squads were swamped with work, constantly being sent out scouting or hunting for food, and their hero and Valkyrie were perpetually in meetings with the other officers. The wizards and priests were likewise occupied, having been gathered for some project by the senior members of their respective organizations, but soldiers and sorcerers had nothing. 'Standby and wait for instructions' was the order of the day, which the more proactive ones took as an excuse to squeeze a bit more training in. It was this situation that lead to Garret facing Annika in a fencing match.

"Come on, Garret! I know you're better than this! Hya!"

The crack of two branches (standing in for training swords) connecting pierced the morning mists as Garret barely managed to fend off her attack. Almost immediately, she followed it up with another series of blows, striking Garret in the leg, arm, and nearly his chest, but at the last moment he twisted out of the way.

"I'm a _mage_ , not a swordsman, cut me some slack here!"

He retaliated with his own attack, which Annika easily parried, then struck him on the back as she moved past him.

"Hahaha, Not a chance!"

She grinned wolfishly, then circled around to position herself for another strike. Thankfully, she wasn't using all of her strength. She was not going easy on him at all, but at least she was considerate enough to not hit him with the full force of her attacks. Beside them, illuminated by the golden rays of the rising sun, Eric and Aisha spared as well. Much like Garret, Aisha was severely lacking in swordsmanship – something that Eric was trying to rectify. He didn't have any time to watch them, though. The minute he took his eyes off her, Annika stepped forward and lunged across the smooth, stone ground, aiming a thrust for his ribs. Garret deflected it at the last moment, then blocked her follow-up attack and stepped in for his own slash. His footwork was sloppy and his technique, still poor, but sometimes… _sometimes_ , it worked in his favour. The way he had moved and attacked took Annika by surprise, and resulted in the two of them being nearly pressed together in an awkward position, their swords trapped. Garret was the first to seize this opportunity and hooked her leg with his own. Then he lunged forward, tackling her to the ground. In the ensuing scuffle, he somehow managed to get his 'sword' free first and and drew it across her neck.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

Now it was his turn to grin and gloat, savoring his only victory.

"All's fair in love and war."

"Oh, we'll see about that."

Garret detected a hint of bitterness in her voice, as she shoved him off of her, then began their fight anew. For the rest of the sparing session, her blows stung noticeably more.

* * *

"I think that's enough for now. Ya alright down there, Garret?"

Originally irritated by her loss, now that she had trounced him multiple times in the sword ring, Annika's cheerful mood was back, and she extended a hand to him. Sitting on the ground, battered and bruised, Garret accepted her help, and she hauled him upright. Unfortunately, her irritation had seemingly transferred to him.

"I know you hate losing, Annika, but you don't have to take it out on me. That really hurt."

Much to Garret's annoyance, she tried to brush it off.

"Oh come on, I didn't hit you that hard."

He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a set of colourful bruises stretching across his upper arm and shoulder.

"Yes. You did."

Once she realized what she'd done, her expression immediately shifted to a guilty looking one, and she began to apologize.

"Oh shit, sorry, Garret. I, uh… I guess didn't pay attention and got carried away. Are you alright? Can I do anything to help?"

He just scowled and shook his head.

"Pay more attention next time."

"Garret, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, that's…"

He took a breath to calm himself.

"Its fine. Let's go get some lunch."

* * *

It was amazing what a bite to eat could do for one's mood. Having had some time to cool down, as well as being able to shovel food into his growling stomach, Garret was in a much better state of mind. Annika apologized again, and he let her know he didn't harbor any ill will against her, though he reiterated his request for her to be more careful. Sitting on the improvised wood and stone benches, under the midday sun, the two ate in relative silence. Something was bothering Garret, though, as he looked to his left, out from the camp and over the forests and plains laid out before their plateau. Those groves in the distance… Did they always look so vibrant?

"What do you think, Annika?"

He mentioned the unusually colourful (even by demon realm standards) flora to her, and she squinted, trying to look, then shrugged her shoulders.

"Dunno. It doesn't look that different to me. Maybe it's the way the sun is hitting it?"

"Maybe…"

Disregarding it for now, he pushed that feeling of unease away. _If_ it was something, whatever it was, was many miles away. They'd have plenty of warning before it showed up, especially with how actively their ranger teams were scouting.

* * *

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully. Garret took a couple hours to hike further up the mountain their plateau jutted out of, both for his own enjoyment, and to see if he could get a better look at their surroundings. Annika was more than happy to join him in this endeavor, but while the trek was pleasant, with beautiful views, it didn't reveal much that they hadn't seen before. At least it helped to keep his mind off the events of the previous weeks.

In contrast to how it was in the morning, when they returned to the camp around dinner time, Garret and Annika found it to be much more active. While most were eating, the soldiers that weren't were being organized into small groups. They were then divided by gender and marched, twenty at a time, into one of several zones at the camp's edges that had been hastily walled off by hung fabric, preventing people from looking in. Was something important happening? By a stroke of luck, they stumbled upon a very disheveled looking Eric and Aisha, who were blushing slightly as they walked hand-in-hand, back towards their tent.

"Eric! Aisha! What's going on? What's everyone organizing for?"

When they heard his call and stopped to look for where it had come from, Garret could have sworn he saw a look of annoyance flicker across Aisha's face. When Eric spotted him, he raised a hand in greeting.

"Ah, Garret! You're just in time. I think the Northreach soldiers are up soon."

"You'd better hurry. Being late will seal your fate.~"

Well that was nice to know, but it wasn't an explanation

"Ok, but up for _what_?"

"Preparations for entering the demon realm."

"You mean like wards or something?"

Eric grinned, looked at Aisha, then nodded.

"Yeah, something like that."

Now Garret was getting irritated by their curtness. It seemed like his friends were deliberately trying to blow him off.

"Come on, tell me. What, exactly, is happening?"

Aisha looked increasingly annoyed by his persistent questioning, but Eric was a bit more understanding.

"Oh, you really don't know, do you? You've never been on a mission into enemy territory before?"

He shook his head.

"Annika? What about you?"

Garret's partner, who had been suspiciously silent throughout this, just smiled knowingly.

"Ah, right. You joined The Order first."

"Innocent boy.~" Aisha smirked at him.

"They'll explain it to you when you get there. Get some food quickly, you won't have time for it later, then report to your sergeant."

The fact he still wasn't getting an explanation annoyed him, but he didn't have time to protest. Aisha immediately began to try to drag Eric away.

"There. Now you know what to do, so shoo. Shoo!"

Eric held firm just long enough to slap Garret on the shoulder and wink.

"Enjoy yourself, Garret. This is the best part of being a crusader."

Then he was gone, dragged off by his impatient partner, leaving them alone, with Garret shaking his head.

"Well that was useful… Annika? Do you know what they were talking about?"

As before, Annika just smiled.

* * *

The dinner prepared for the troops that night was smaller than usual, similar to what would be given if they expected an imminent battle or forced march. Though he missed the usual portion sizes, at least this meant they were able to chow down quickly. Between bites, he and Annika chatted about various topics, but whenever he tried to shift the conversation towards the current 'preparations', she held her ground, remaining silent. There was something different about her expression, though. When she smiled, were her eyes lighting up because she enjoyed teasing him? Or from anticipation?

* * *

"Nice of you to join us, Fax. Nyman. You're late."

Despite their rush, it took time to locate the rest of their countrymen and, unfortunately, they had only managed to find them after their formation had been organized.

"Sorry, sir. We were, uh…"

Garret faltered in his apology. Technically, they weren't supposed to have left the camp and gone hiking. That wasn't what 'standby' meant. Thankfully, though, their sergeant didn't seem to care. He waved away their apology and was more concerned about getting them into formation. Once they (the last to arrive) had taken up their positions, he walked between their ranks assigning everyone a group, then had them reorganize themselves into a new formation, splitting them by gender. He dismissed the occasional homosexual couple, sending them back to their tents, then strode back in front of them to deliver his instructions.

"Alright, group one, you're going to the furthest set of dividers. Men, go to the one on the left, women to the right. Once inside, form up and do what the priests tell you to. Understood?"

The group responded with a collection of 'Yes Sir's, and when a priest stepped out from each of the cloth-shrouded zones to wave for the next set of soldiers, their sergeant sent them on their way.

"Step lively, lads, we've got a schedule to keep."

* * *

The males tended to be… Blessed? Warded? Processed? Whatever they were, a bit faster than the females, so while Garret and Annika had both been assigned to group three, the men of their number ended up marching to their spot before the women got their turn. When Garret ducked under the makeshift, fabric 'doorway' being held open for them, he spotted numerous other wizards and priests (all male), standing ready at the 'wall' on their right. As per their sergeant's, they fell into a loose formation and stood at attention.

Once everyone was inside, the priest at the door (apparently a higher ranking one, judging by the marks on his robes) let the cloth he was holding fall to 'close' it, then stepped in front of them and set them at ease.

"Good evening, everyone. Before we begin, give me a show of hands. Who's been sent on missions into a demon realm before?"

Northreach's war with the mamono had been mostly defensive, so only a few men raised their hands as the priest looked them over, making a mental tally.

"Not many… Then I'll go over what we're about to do, since most of you don't know."

Before beginning, he took a swig from the waterskin at his waist to wet his throat. Apparently, he'd had to give this speech multiple times before.

"The demon realm is full of demonic energy, that much should be obvious. With enough exposure over time, this ambient energy is capable of corrupting a human, but as men, you are lucky. Your natural rate of generating spiritual energy is quite high, meaning the ambient demonic energy will never be able to snuff it out and change you internally. Instead, it has to corrupt you from the outside-in, which takes weeks, and can be stopped by regular purification. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for your partners. A woman's energy production is much weaker and can be overwhelmed by the demonic energy in the air around them. Once it does, they will begin to rapidly change into a monster and assault the men surrounding them."

The priest paused for another drink, and some impatient whispers floated around the formation. For anyone with the slightest bit of education about magical energies, this was all old news.

"If a woman is continually provided with additional spiritual energy, however, she can resist it just as well as a man can. This is one of the reasons you'd been working with a partner of the opposite gender, and why The Order tried to match you as best as we could. A man's semen contains vast amounts of surplus spiritual energy. Normally monsters feed on this, but if a human woman were to be… _administered_ it, they would absorb it as well. I trust you all understand what I'm getting at?"

At this point, a few of the younger, more innocent members of the group were staring at the floor, blushing. Apparently, most of the soldiers understood, Garret included, but that didn't stop one of the slower men from raising their hand and, when called on, blurting out "You want us to fuck them?".

"Yes."

More questions came.

"What about pregnancies?"

"That's what the enchantments we'll cast on you are for. They'll render you temporarily sterile and will feed off your own energy to sustain themselves, until we remove them."

Another soldier raised his hand and was called out by the priest.

"A girl I know has another woman as her partner. What's going to happen to them?"

The priest nodded with a smile, approving of the man's concern for his friends.

"The limited number of lesbian couples in our crusade means the priests can purify them daily without straining our resources. We can't do everyone, though, so you must take responsibility for your own partner."

Finally, one of the more religiously inclined soldiers asked if the Chief God approved of this, citing how she forbad sex outside of marriage, for purposes other than procreation. The priest quickly corrected his assertation – It wasn't forbidden, just strongly discouraged due to the possibility of things like pregnancy.

"Additionally, the Chief God makes exceptions to some of her rules during crusades. For example, if we maintained her command of 'Thou shalt not kill', we wouldn't be able to fight corrupted humans. If you feel you must follow that command's spirit, you can stretch your… _administrations_ to once a week instead of every couple days, and if you still have doubts, please come talk to me tomorrow morning. We can discuss it further then. Does anyone else have questions?"

None came.

"Good. Everyone, please undress yourselves."

Apparently, the priests and wizards who worked their enchantments needed to see, directly, what they would be casting their spells on. This led to no shortage of awkwardness, but Garret just gritted his teeth and focused on the cloth wall ahead of him, doing his best to ignore it. He'd already lived the army life of communal bathing before. If he could deal with that, he could deal with this.

As one of the wizards began 'working' on Garret, the head priest made a final comment about the nature of their enchantments.

"These spells have a noticeable, temporary side effect. It'll subside after a few hours, so don't be shocked, but we consider it to be beneficial. We won't let anyone shirk their duties out of shyness."

Before Garret could ponder the meaning of his words, the wizard finished up, and he got to experience the 'side effect' firsthand. Upon the spell's completion, he felt a tingle of energy run through his cock and was assaulted by a raging fire of lust. It took an enormous amount of will power to remain standing in place, waiting for the other men to be enchanted. A single thought seized his mind, blocking out all others: He had to fuck Annika.

After what seemed like an eternity, the priests and wizards finally finished, and the head priest dismissed them.

"Your partners are going to be in a similar state, so I think you know what to do. You'll have no more duties assigned this evening. Get dressed and return to your tents. Dismissed."

Garret and the rest of the men scrambled to put on their clothes, not caring if buttons were mismatched or buckles left undone, then headed out the 'door', opposite to the one they entered, with great haste. The initial shock had subsided by now, but Garret was still having trouble thinking of anything other than his current 'mission'. Aisha's annoyance at being stopped, and Eric's curtness suddenly made a lot more sense.

* * *

Back at the tent, Garret cursed the relative slowness with which the women were being enchanted. He was the first to arrive, and as such, had to play the waiting game yet again. Trying to at least do _something_ to make time creep by, he set about arranging their bedding, clearing room, and pushing their two bedrolls together to get more space. He had the feeling they'd be using all of it. He had just sat down and pulled off his boots when he heard footsteps outside. Annika pulled back the tent flap, then dove forward, pushing him onto the ground as she moved in for a passionate kiss.

Her tongue twirled within his mouth, as she clung to him, eagerly pressing her body closer, and Garret's heart pounded as he returned her affections. One arm at a time, he let go to slip out of his robe, eventually tossing the garment aside like a discarded toy. With a quick gasp for air, Annika released him for just long enough to rip her own shirt off. Her pert, freckled breasts, now free from the garment that bound them, hung tantalizingly before Garret, who was more than happy to squeeze and grope them with one hand while the other fumbled with his belt. Annika lifted herself off of him for a moment, to pull down her own pants, but rather than let her return to straddling him, Garret lunged at her, driven by a lust rivaling that of a mamono. Now completely naked, the two entered into an embrace closer than they ever been before. He felt her hot breath on his neck, panting with anticipation. Her smooth skin and soft breasts pressed against his chest, her toned arms and legs wrapped around him tightly, and her gentle warmth enveloped him. She shuddered against him as he planted a quick kiss on her lips, then reached down with his hand to spread her lower ones and slid his manhood in. Slowly at first, then with increasing frequency, he rocked his hips back and forth as Annika locked her legs and arms around him, holding him tight, as if promising that she'd never let him go. Slowly, he felt a pressure within him begin to build, and he had to try harder and harder to stop from coming. Annika seemed to sense that he was nearing his limit, but was not at all helpful towards his goal of lasting longer. When he slowed, she clenched down on him, and intensified the movement of her own hips, forcing him to continue his climb up the mountain. Eventually, he could hold back no longer. His mind went blank with pleasure as he exploded deep within her, pouring out his energy and sperm in great bursts.

When he came back to his senses, panting and sweating, he leaned forward for another kiss. Annika was likewise frazzled, having had her own orgasm either at the same time or shortly after. He brushed his lips against hers and, still inside her, gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"You were looking forward to this, weren't you, Annika?"

She smiled as her green eyes gazed into his, and she wiped a wayward strand of red hair out of the way.

"Oh, heavens no. Finally having a chance to be with my lover after months of battle, side-by-side? How could I _possibly_ be looking forward to that?" Came her coy reply.

He smiled and planted another tender kiss on her lips, as they lay together. The passionate heat from their enchantment's 'side-effect' had momentarily abated, but slowly it began to build again. Garret's grin widened as he predicted how the rest of the night was going to go. It was almost like they'd been turned into monsters, such was their lust. Well, they were camped right next to the demon realm, so he supposed this made sense. After all, when in Rome…

"Ready for round two, Annika?"

She grinned a wolfish grin, then pushed him off and rolled on top of him, declaring "I think I'm gonna take charge this time.".

A challenge. She was challenging him in the sexiest way possible. Seeing this, Garret's own competitive spirit flared as the fire within him roared back to full strength.

"You can _try_."

Needless to say, neither of them left the tent that evening.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Alright, so according to World Guide 1, monsterization happens to a woman when demonic energy invades their body, completely replacing their spiritual energy, and snuffing out their ability to produce more. The most common method of transmission for this energy, intercourse with monsters, shows that women (and men) are able to absorb foreign energies through their genitalia (as well as the rest of their body, but given the nature of the setting, I think it's likely to be more efficiently absorbed by these parts). Now, with that in mind, consider the main food for many monsters – men's spiritual energy, gained through ejaculation. Combine point one with point two, and the logical implication is that a human man can replenish a human woman's spiritual energy through intercourse, since he'll be shooting it directly into her.

Also in the world guide, they mentioned how the energy in the air of a demon realm corrodes a person's spiritual energy at such a rate that in recent history, only two people have actually made it to the Demon Lord without being transformed by the ambient energy alone (though she quickly rectified that). This poses an interesting problem for The Order. We know that they make large scale crusades into demon realms, but since I have removed the plot-induced stupidity from the organization, they aren't just going to send thousands of men and woman to be corrupted, with nothing to show for it. Therefore, they must have some tactical, magical, or religious doctrine to make crusades into demon realms possible. Since we know that women are more susceptible to demonic energy, said doctrine would likely focus on them.

Point one, plus point two, over point three equals: Fuck your girlfriend for the glory of mankind! This, I thought, was the most logical way for The Order to solve the problem, hence why I've had its soldiers working in pairs from the start, as well as the other reasons I've mentioned before.

Of course, the world guide also mentions things like how demonic energy can never be purified and once you get a tiny bit in you, it's only a matter of time until you turn, but that's bullshit. _Everything_ has a counter. To say that something _worldly_ is unbeatable or unstoppable effectively regresses the setting to grade-school play-fighting levels of believability. "Nuhuh! I have an everything-proof shield!" *eyeroll*

Ok, that's enough soapboxing for now. Sorry about the short chapter, I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to write. My thesis is kicking my ass, so I had to rush this one out when I got the chance, lest people start to think I've abandoned the story.

In other news, I hope y'all are staying healthy and safe.

Until next time, Sayonara!


End file.
